The First
by Krayzee Aussie
Summary: It's always been believed Bucky was the first of his kind for HYDRA, completely complicit and deadly, but... every Project has it's failed test subjects and she was theirs, although, in her mind, she is exactly how she wants to be. Begins during CA:CW, currently in Endgame **SPOILER ALERT**
1. Bucharest

**I'm trying a different type of angle here...bear with me.**

 **Naturally...I don't own nothing but my OCs**

 **Have fun**

 **xo**

 **Legend -**

 _Italics -_ **Another language other than english**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Bucharest**

Bucky looked up at the old stone built, apartment block. He had just rented a small studio apartment, it was cheap, furnished and best of all, they accepted cash.

He had managed to get himself to Bucharest through menial cash paid jobs, and finally felt like he was far enough away to find himself a place to stay.

He looked up and down the street, it was a quiet side street, in what might have been considered a shady side of town, depending how you looked at it. Kids ran past him, playing tag, completely unaware of him. That made him smile slightly. He sighed and walked through the entrance.

Climbing up to the third floor, he scanned the doors for his apartment number, he found it at the end of the hallway, opposite another apartment.

He looked at the door and sighed again, he had to admit, it felt good knowing he was hanging around for awhile.

As he went to put his key into the lock, the door across from his opened. He didn't turn to look though, instead pulling his cap down further.

"Oh shit!" A woman gasped, appearing in the doorway. _"Sorry, you scared me."_ Her Romanian was perfect, although he detected a slightly foreign accent, which put him on edge. _"Are you my new neighbour?"_

" _Yes,"_ he replied curtly, before finally unlocking his door.

"American?"

" _Yes,"_ he answered curtly again, opening the door and moving to go inside.

She hesitated before speaking again. _"Wel- welcome to the building, I'll see you around."_ As he turned to shut the door he got a quick look at her as she shut her own door. She was tall, with an athletic build and blonde hair. Her features were somewhat exotic along with her tanned skin.

Her dark brown eyes looked at him with concern before she continued on her way.

He shut the door quickly, listening against the door to hear if she returned anytime soon. He knew that there was little chance he would be relaxing even in his new home.

* * *

Bucky spent the first few days only venturing out for supplies or the occasional work. He tried to figure out his neighbour's hours of work, so to avoid them wherever possible. The woman across the hall from him seemed to work sporadic hours though, sometimes leaving early in the morning, and coming home in the early afternoon, or working the exact opposite.

Still, he had managed to avoid her for a month since their first meeting in the hallway.

He was on his way out to buy groceries today, hurriedly closing his apartment door and pulling his hat over his head. He turned, walking along the hallway, but as he went to walk down the stairs he felt the hard impact of someone running into him.

The woman, who had apparently been in a hurry, had run into him, falling backwards after making impact with his chest. As she fell back, he instinctively reached out and grabbed her by the arm, catching her wrist.

"Oh my god, _I'm so sorry,"_ she exclaimed, speaking a combination of English and Romanian, as he pulled her back onto her feet. His heart was in his throat when he noticed which hand he had caught her with, he had used his titanium hand.

" _Are you okay?"_ he asked in Romanian, releasing her wrist and trying to see if he had done her any damage, without looking too suspicious as she pulled ear phones from her ears. That must have been why she hadn't noticed him.

" _Aside from embarrassment? Yeah, I'm fine. Good catch,"_ she answered, straightening her clothes. He looked her up and down. She was wearing what appeared to be a uniform of some sort, perhaps a security uniform but he couldn't be sure. _"Are you alright?"_

He realised he must have been staring at her, and quickly looked away. _"Sorry, I should be going."_ He went to move around her.

She held her hand up to him hastily. _"Hey, can I cook you dinner sometime as my apologies for running into you?"_

He raised his eyebrows, surprised by her offer. _"That won't be necessary,"_ he said, before ducking his head to keep his face hidden.

" _Are you sure? I mean, I'm more than happy to, neighbour,"_ she grinned and tried to look into his face.

" _Thank you, but it's fine."_ He ducked his head quickly, before finally moving past her.

" _Oh, okay. Well the name's Lex, if you ever change your mind,"_ she called back, before beginning to walk up the rest of the stairs. Bucky kept walking, looking back at her in the corner of his eye, noticing that she didn't even look back at him as she hurried to her apartment.

* * *

A couple more months passed and Bucky had managed to avoid running into his neighbour, Lex.

While the months had passed incident free, it didn't stop him from living in a state of anxiousness. Whenever he heard sirens in the distance, his heart would race and he would wait with bated breath, to see if they would pass him by.

Add to that, the nightmares plagued his sleep. He would often wake in a cold sweat as he relived his past, over and over again, watching as he did so many horrendous things, completely out of his own control. He sometimes wondered if his neighbours could hear him at night, when he occasionally woke up shouting.

Even the sounds within the apartment building would have him on edge, and considering how often Lex seemed to leave her apartment, that meant he was always listening for any suspicious sounds.

Even the bubbly woman had him on edge sometimes, especially after his run in with her on the stairs months earlier. Most women would have suffered some injury from him grabbing their wrist with his titanium hand the way he had, yet she hadn't even flinched, let alone suffered any injury whatsoever, that he could tell.

It was possible that she just had very strong bones, but it wasn't something common in Romanians, especially in their neck of the woods, which was populated with predominantly low income earners who worked hard just to get a roof over their heads.

Either way, he was in a constant state of alert even now, as he stared out the window as another siren blared in the distance, while he wrote his thoughts down in his notebook.

He found the activity cathartic, getting the jumble of thoughts and flashbacks written down in one place for him to go over and try and decipher. He hoped it would help him reshape himself to something familiar, but so far, he'd not had much luck.

He sighed, closing his journal and looking at the time. He needed to duck out again today, but he hadn't heard Lex leave her apartment yet.

As he stood to pack away his journal, he heard her door open and her footsteps exiting her apartment. He quickly and quietly began to gather his backpack and cap, slipping gloves on his hands to cover his titanium hand.

He waited a few minutes to make sure she was definitely gone before leaving himself.

It was a dark day outside, clouds hung ominously in the sky, threatening rain, but it didn't bother him. It meant less people in the street. He kept his head down and slung his back pack onto his back, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and began walking to his favourite market.

As he walked along, he heard some voices from an alley, and one voice in particular, piqued his interest.

" _Come on,"_ Lex's voice floated to his ears. _"You're being ridiculous right now."_

Bucky slowed and looked around, trying to pin point exactly where her voice was coming from.

" _I told you, you'll learn your place, Woman,"_ a man sneered, before he heard a scuffling sound. Bucky considered what to do for a moment, looking up the street towards the market. He finally sighed and walked down the nearby alleyway.

What he found when he walked to the end was Lex, surrounded by about six men. Two currently had hold of her by her arms and were handling her roughly.

" _Seriously guys, all this because I told you to fuck off?"_ she said struggling against the two that held her.

" _You don't disrespect us, woman, we run these streets_ ," one man said walking towards her. He was tall and well built, but Lex didn't seemed perturbed by that, as she laughed at him.

" _Man, just you saying that makes me want to laugh."_ That earned her a slap across the face. _"Ugh, you even hit like a woman."_

" _You think you're so tough,"_ the man said, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flick knife. _"Hold her so I can teach her a lesson."_

Bucky stepped out from the shadows and grabbed the man directly to his right with his titanium arm, easily throwing him into the nearby wall.

It drew the other's attention to him and gave Lex the chance to free herself from the two men holding.

Bucky busied himself, shoving another man into a pile of rubbish before the man with the flick knife ran towards him. Bucky stepped back to avoid the knife, before ducking from a wild swing.

As the man swung his arm back again, Bucky grabbed his knife hand easily and twisted, making him drop the knife, which Bucky caught with his free hand.

" _I think you need to learn how to talk to a lady, pal,"_ Bucky muttered as the man struggled in his hand.

" _Let me go."_

" _Say sorry,"_ Bucky ordered, twisting his hand further.

" _I'm sorry."_

Bucky looked back to Lex, to find her kicking the last of the men holding onto her into a wall fiercely. He was impressed, all three remaining men that had either been holding her or close at hand had been subdued or knocked out.

" _Let him go, they're just a bunch of kids anyway,"_ she said with a careless wave of her hand. Bucky raised an eyebrow, she had to be barely a couple of years older than them herself, but did as she said and released the man's hand. He looked at Lex angrily before looking back at Bucky, who glared back at him.

The man was quick to take off, his friends slowly getting up and going after him.

Lex moved to sit on a crate gingerly, Bucky watching her for a moment. He considered turning and leaving, but he noticed she was bleeding from her mouth and head.

He sighed to himself before moving to kneel next to her. _"Are you okay?"_ he asked in Romanian.

She gave a tired nod. "Once again, I think I'm more embarrassed than anything else," she answered in English, touching her lip. It was split and swelling from where she had been hit at some point. Bucky spotted a cut on her forehead too. "Thanks for the save."

When she spoke English, she had an accent that he couldn't quite place, it reminded him of an English accent. "Don't mention it," he replied. He watched her for a moment as she rested, before taking his bag from his back and opening it and pulling out a water bottle. "Here, you're bleeding."

He took off the glove from his normal hand and wet it with the water, before dripping water onto the cut above her right eye. She pulled a face as he did so, but didn't pull away.

"Thanks."

"Why were they bothering you?"

"It's just one of the local gangs, because I work security at one of the local bars, I'm always kicking them out or stopping them from coming in because they're disrespectful shits," she said in an offhand manner. "I guess they figured out I lived somewhere in the neighbourhood."

"You going to be okay?" Bucky asked, hearing sirens in the distance and feeling slightly anxious. He'd already been outside longer than he would have liked.

She waved off his concerned question. "Whatever happens, happens. Don't worry about me."

She stood up quickly, but began to sway slightly. Bucky quickly grabbed her to steady her. "Whoa, did you take a knock to the head?"

"Maybe, can't remember. I'll be fine, I'll call in sick and head back to bed for the day. I'm sure you've got things to do," she said and turned to walk away. "Thanks neighbour."

Bucky watched her walk away, considering what to do next. He sighed and quickly slung his backpack across his shoulders before hurrying to catch up to her. "I'll take you back, I can always come back out."

"You don't need to."

"It's fine." He didn't look at her, his ulterior motive for going back with her was because he was quite anxious at who had seen him fighting with the men, and whether they would report it to the authorities. He continued to walk beside her, keeping to her pace, which wasn't hard because her stride seemed to match his exactly. "And it's Bucky."

"Huh?" Lex asked in confusion, looking at him.

"My name, it's Bucky."

Lex blinked, taking in what he said. "Oh, thanks, Bucky. Appreciate it."

* * *

After that day in the alley, Bucky wasn't too bothered about running into Lex. She was a nice girl, always offering him a smile and a hello. She didn't try and engage him in conversation most days though, he figured she must have known he wasn't comfortable talking much.

It was strange though, he started to find it comforting to see her in the hallways whenever he left to go shopping, or even to hear her apartment door open and close as she went off to do her day to day errands.

One day, he ran into her as he was returning home from a small job in the city, as she was returning home from work too.

" _Oh, Bucky, how are you?"_ She asked as she rummage through her bag for her keys, continuing to walk up the stairs towards their floor. She had a tendency to continue to speak Romanian to him when they were in the hallways of the apartment building, which he could appreciate. For him, it meant they didn't draw attention.

" _Good, how are you?"_ He asked politely, as she pulled them out. _"Busy at work?"_

" _Not really, thankfully."_ She began unlocking her door, but stopped and looked at him as he unlocked his own door. _"Hey, don't suppose you want to come in for a coffee? I've got cake too? I never did get to thank you for helping me out."_

He glanced back at her, thoughtful for a moment. She had been awfully nice to him, and he was curious about certain aspects about her, like how it was she came to be in Bucharest, when quite clearly she was a foreigner. _"Sure, I'd like that."_

Her eyes went wide and she looked stunned. _"Re-really?"_ He furrowed his brow and looked at her nervously. _"Sorry! It's just, you shut me down so quickly last time, I thought you'd do the same this time. Come on, it's chocolate cake."_ Bucky was slightly relieved at her reply.

She opened the door and walked inside, holding it open for him as he entered behind her. Her apartment was exactly the same as his, except she had added a few small homely touches to it, like a lamp here and there or a framed picture.

She turned on a lamp here and there as she made her way to the kitchen. She motioned to the small dining table. "Have a seat, how do you like your coffee?"

"However you have it is fine," he replied, carefully pulling out a chair and sitting down. Lex furrowed her brow and looked at him for a moment, before turning back to her kitchen.

"With a shot of vodka, it is," she replied. Bucky raised his eyebrows in surprise as she turned back around with two plates of cake in hand. She grinned. "I'm kidding, of course." She placed one of the plates in front of him. "I only use rum."

Bucky gave a small chuckle, accepting the spoon she handed to him. She was always smiling whenever he saw her, and it seemed like her sense of humour was a constant fixture too. He noticed her eyes lingered over his gloved hands in a state of confusion, but she didn't say anything, instead returning to the kitchen to prepare their coffees as the water boiled.

He pressed his lips together as he waited for her to return, looking at his hands. When he was outside, no one really gave him a second look, but, of course, inside it was considered strange behaviour. He started debating if accepting her offer was such a good idea, as she returned with his coffee.

"Don't wait for me, buddy, dig in," she ordered, motioning to his cake.

He gave a small smile, before picking up his spoon and breaking a piece of cake off. He slipped it into his mouth and was delighted by the rich chocolate taste. It reminded him of something else, from long ago, but he couldn't quite recall it. He was quiet as he tried to pin point what the cake was reminding him of.

"Bucky?" He was drawn from his thoughts by Lex, looking at him with concerned eyes and her head tilted to one side as she looked at him. "Is there something...wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's really good," he replied quickly, looking back down at the cake quickly. He wasn't used to people looking at him the way she did, it was unnerving.

"Really? Because the way you were looking at it made me wonder if I poisoned it," she retorted. He looked back at her to find she was pouting with her deep brown eyes narrowed at him.

He was mortified. "No, not at all! It's really good, it's been awhile since I had chocolate cake."

She smirked at him and lifted her coffee to her lips. "If you say so."

"It just reminded me of something, sorry," he said ruefully.

"Of what?" she asked with interest, taking a bite of her own. "Something your Mum made?"

He was quiet for a moment. Was that it? "Yeah, something like that." She furrowed her brow at his answer for a moment, but quickly gave him a small smile and didn't push the subject.

He decided to change the subject. "So you're...English?"

"What?" She looked offended. "Australian." She shook her head and sighed. "I get your confusion though, we were founded on English convicts after all." She grinned and he couldn't help but give a little laugh at her own jab.

"Sorry."

"What for? Confusing me for English or that I'm most likely the descendant of a criminal?" He laughed again as he picked up his coffee cup and went to take a sip. "You should laugh more, Bucky, it looks nicer than that broody thing you're always doing."

He coughed as he nearly choked on his drink. Lex laughed heartily as she handed him a napkin. The sound of her laugh had him looking at her in surprise. It was a pleasant sound, but was one he wasn't accustomed to.

"Sorry, that was mean," she finally said when she had calmed down.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, before he let a small smile escape. "Maybe a little."

"It's true though, people in the building think you're some scary dude, because you never smile," she explained, finishing off her cake.

"Perhaps I am."

"Nawww, why would you say that? You're alright."

He sighed. "Thanks." He didn't believe that one bit. He knew what he'd done and he knew that if she knew, she wouldn't believe it anymore either.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	2. I've Had Better Days

**I actually had this and chapter 1 as one big chapter, but it was huge! No one has time to sit through that big a chapter in one hit, do they? Haha.**

 **And for those that aren't familiar with how I right, I do a lot of mindless dribble before my chapters haha**

 **You're welcome.**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **I've Had Better Days**

Bucky walked through the streets of Bucharest on his way to the market stalls.

Lex had made him a really nice plum jam recently, so he thought he might buy some to eat as well as give some to her for the effort. _"How are they? Are they good?"_ he asked the vendor. She nodded, smiling back up at him. He picked out some nice ones from the fruit stall, before paying and turning to return home.

He stopped as he heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. Even though he had been living in Bucharest for a year without incident now, the sound of sirens still made him anxious.

He waited with bated breath as the police car came speeding towards him, putting his head down for a moment as it passed him by, before he released his breath. His heart was racing, so he took a couple of breaths to calm himself down, before looking across the road to the news stand.

He'd made it a habit to buy a newspaper every day, so he could keep up to date with what was happening in the world, in particular, if HYDRA had reared their head again.

Today, as he looked at the news stand, he noticed the vendor was staring at him. He glanced away quickly, wondering if perhaps he was mistaken, but when he looked back he was certain the man was staring at him. Worse still, he recognised two emotions in the man's eyes.

Recognition. And fear.

Bucky furrowed his brow, before pulling his hat down a bit further, but it didn't shake the uneasy feeling in him currently.

He crossed the road, and watched as the vendor hurriedly left his stand, running away. Bucky arrived at the stand and quickly picked up a newspaper. There, on the front page, was a blurry surveillance picture of a man that looked exactly like him.

The headline read - 'The Winter Soldier strikes again.'

He quickly scanned through the story. A bomb had been detonated outside a political conference in Vienna, killing many, including the Wakandan King, T'Chaka.

Bucky's heart skipped a beat. He had been set up. He didn't take a second thought, hurrying back to his apartment. He needed to leave, before he had the authorities banging on his door, or worse, Steve Rogers.

* * *

Bucky hurried up the stairs of the apartment block, careful to keep his head down the whole way home.

Home. That was a lie. It wasn't his home. He didn't have a home. A home was a safe place. No where was safe for him. Or safe FROM him.

He stopped at his door, it had been forced open. He clenched his fist and grit his teeth, debating what to do next. He made up his him and silently pushed it open further, slipping inside and closing it quietly.

There, in his apartment, was Steve. He was dressed in his uniform. Captain America. He considered all the things he had read about Captain America in the Smithsonian, and he thought about all the things he could remember about Steve.

Someone must have been in communication with him because Bucky heard him murmur, "understood."

Steve slowly turned around to look at Bucky, one of his notebooks in his hand.

Steve looked nervously at Bucky, but he was certain he wasn't as nervous as Bucky felt. He stared at Steve, his heart racing a million miles an hour as he considered what he should do next.

"Do you know me?" Steve asked quietly.

Bucky considered how to answer him. "You're Steve," he replied. "I read about you in a museum."

Steve seemed distracted for a second, before he spoke again. "I know you're nervous. And you have plenty of reason to be. But you're lying."

Bucky bit his lip and glanced away for a moment. He looked back at Steve. "I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."

"Well, the people that think you did are coming here now, and they're not planning on taking you alive," Steve warned.

Bucky grimaced, before giving a small smile. "That's smart, good strategy."

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck."

Bucky could hear the sounds of many footsteps and bodies preparing outside his apartment door. He wondered if Lex was home, he didn't want her to get caught up in what might happen next. He heard the sound of weapons flicking from safe to action.

"It always ends in a fight."

Steve took a step towards him. "You pulled me from the river. Why?"

Bucky felt his adrenaline beginning to increase dramatically, as he remembered the day well. It was the day the hazy cloud had started to lift from his mind. "I don't know."

Steve looked at him pointedly. "Yes, you do."

He didn't have a chance to respond. There was a crash as an incendiary grenade was thrown through the window. Bucky was quick to kick it towards Steve on instinct, turning away before it could explode. He heard the muffled bang as Steve placed his shield over it as it exploded.

Bucky saw more bodies moving outside his apartment windows and lifted a mattress over him to shield from shots fired from outside the window, before picking up the table and flinging it at the front door, causing the table to wedge into the door frame.

Steve pulled the rug from beneath another police officer that had swung in through a window, sending him flying backwards, while Bucky slammed another into a wall.

"Buck, stop!" Steve shouted. "You're going to kill someone!" He moved to grab Bucky, but Bucky threw him to the ground. He balled his titanium hand into a fist, before slamming it down.

"I'm not going to kill anyone."

He had shattered a floorboard near Steve's head, reaching in and pulling out a backpack he kept packed with important documents, ready to go in case something happened.

Something had clearly happened. He threw the backpack out of the window, sending it flying onto one of the adjacent buildings.

Shots were fired through the back door, and Steve covered both himself and Bucky with his shield. Bucky took the opportunity to knock Steve forward, forcing him into the police officer.

He turned then as more cops broke through the front door finally, shooting at him, he was quick to bring his titanium hand up, the bullets shearing away his glove as they ricocheted away, before slamming the cop responsible into his shelves.

He could hear Steve fighting more cops behind him, and opted to head down the hallway instead.

He punched through the wall beside his front door, knocking out one cop before he burst through and began fighting through the large number waiting there.

Just as he knocked one into the wall adjacent Lex's door, it opened.

" _What the hell is-"_ her voice trailed off as she saw Bucky and looked at the carnage at her feet. "Bucky?"

A police officer went to grab her and push her back inside, but she was quick to grab his hand, twisting it and causing a sickening crack, before she kicked the rifle he was holding up so it fell from his hand and pulled him forward fiercely, knocking him into her door.

Her movements were quick and proficient, and she looked from the police officer back to Bucky with a questioning look. "Are they here for you or me?" The question had Bucky stare at her for a moment, trying to understand what she meant.

"We've got a third hostile," a police officer said into his radio, drawing Bucky's attention to him. He saw him raise his rifle at Lex and immediately stepped in front of her, kicking out at the officer with such force he went flying into the wall on the opposite side of the stairs.

"Come on," Bucky said, grabbing Lex's arm and dragging her along behind him. Together, they fought their way down the stairs. She held her own easily, ducking and weaving as police tried to stop her. She was also incredibly flexible and agile, moving quickly and jumping from officer to officer within seconds of disarming and subduing them.

They weren't moving fast enough though, more and more police officers were coming through. He looked to Lex, who must have had the same thought as she turned to look over the banister. Just then, a police officer dropped down on a zip line in front of her.

Bucky saw her smirk, before she launched straight at him, an elbow connecting with his nose with great force, while her legs wrapped around his body. She used her momentum to swing down and while still holding onto the officer with her legs, swung her body upside down as they dropped a few levels down. She grabbed onto another banister and released the officer's body with her legs, swinging into the stairwell below and smashing into several police officers at once.

Bucky was mildly impressed, before he too jumped down, catching the zip line and swinging down to her, where she was proceeding to subdue several officers on her own.

Clearly, she hadn't told him something.

Bucky grabbed an officer that ran at him, punching him once, before throwing him over the banister. He looked down to see Steve catch the officer a level down, before looking up wearily at Bucky. "Come on, man."

Bucky and Lex jumped down a couple more levels, but Bucky wasn't as nimble as Lex, as she easily leapt onto the banister at her desired level, before jumping onto the landing. He caught the banister with his titanium hand, a shout of pain leaving his lips as it jarred at his shoulder, his weight shearing it away from the floor.

She turned around quickly, reaching out for him. She furrowed her brow when she noticed his metallic hand, but took barely a second to recover from the surprise as she grabbed him and began to hoist him back up onto the landing.

"Come on, this way," she said, running down a corridor as several officers ran towards them from the stairs ahead of them.

He followed her quickly and saw that that the corridor opened up to one of the balcony floors of the apartment block. "Lex..." he warned.

"Jump!" she shouted, as she did so herself. He planted a foot onto the balcony wall and pushed off, sailing over the street below.

He saw Lex land and roll several times onto the roof of the opposite building, lying still for a minute, as he easily landed with a tuck and roll.

He scooped up his bag that had landed not far from them when he had thrown it out the window, before running towards her as she stiffly began to roll to one side. "I am really not designed to pull stunts like that, these days."

As he approached her, he was knocked aside roughly, rolling to his feet and looking back in surprise. He turned to find a man dressed in what appeared to be a fitted, all black armoured suit, with what appeared to be a cat's face on his helmet standing between him and Lex.

"What the hell?" Lex groaned, struggling to her feet.

The man in the cat suit extended his fingers and metal claws appeared. The man ran at Bucky, with sweeping kicks and slashing arms. Bucky tried to fight back but was kicked into a wall. His attacker swiped his claws and spun through the air, Bucky leaned back and narrowly avoided being slashed, before reaching for a metal bar and holding it up to protect himself from the sharp claws.

Bucky managed to push him away, but the man kicked away the metal bar he had used, before continuing to try and slash away at him with his claws. Bucky ducked and weaved, trying desperately to avoid being struck.

He lunged at Bucky again, claws aimed straight for his throat, but Bucky grabbed his wrists and held them at bay, although it took a great effort. Behind his attacker he could see a helicopter hovering in the distance, seeing a soldier fire a machine gun from the chopper. The ammo bounced off his attacker's armoured suit.

Bucky focused back on his assailant and tried to force him backwards, but he was strong. Suddenly, Lex launched herself onto the man's back, wrapping her legs around his upper body, before flipping herself backwards. The man was pulled away from Bucky, as she flung him backwards.

As she did so, she released the man, and he flew away from them, nearly landing at the edge of the rooftop. She quickly scrambled back to her feet, moving to stand beside him. "Bucky, I don't know how I feel about your mates."

"He's not my mate," he replied, regathering his bag and slinging it onto his back. "Come on."

He turned and ran again, jumping down a level to the next building, Lex quick to follow. They kept running until they got to the end of the building, Bucky jumping down and landing in the street.

He looked back to see Lex had hesitated. "Lex!"

"Keep going, I'll try and slow this guy down!" She said turning away from him. "Go!" He stood waiting for a moment, contemplating going back to get her, but he heard sirens approaching and quickly turned and ran.

Lex wasn't the one they were after, even if she did get caught, surely her crime would only be minor. He could always try and get her out too, if he managed to get away that was. He'd owe her that much. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing both the strange man and Steve pursuing him, and wondered if Lex was okay.

Bucky jumped down through an opening and landed in an underpass, turning and continuing to run through the traffic. The man in the black armour and Steve both dropped down and chased after him. Bucky clenched his teeth and kept running.

Some tactical police SUVs were also pursuing them, calling out for them to stop, but it just made him run faster. He was currently out running cars, occasionally running over the top over them in a bid to get ahead. He didn't look behind him, focused on dodging traffic.

He reached a fork in the road, seeing oncoming police cars ahead of him and quickly detoured, leaping over a barrier and onto the other side of the road.

As he continued running he heard the sound of a motorbike speeding up behind him, he glanced over his left shoulder to see Lex, riding quickly through the traffic and giving a wide berth to the man in the armoured suit.

She caught up to him, taking one hand off the handle bars and leaning towards him. He was quick to catch her hand, and she used the momentum of her speed to swing him onto the back of the bike. She continued to speed away.

Bucky glanced back over his shoulder, to see Steve was keeping on his tail with their mystery attacker holding onto the back of the 4x4 Steve was driving.

"Bucky, who the hell are these guys and what's their damage?" Lex demanded as she wove in and out of the traffic.

"You shouldn't have got involved, Lex," he answered ruefully, looking forward again.

"Now you tell me," she said through gritted teeth. "Sorry, I've kind of got an affliction to having a gun shoved in my face." He could hear the sarcasm in her voice and it made him give a small smile.

They all rocketed through another underpass. As they came out the other side, Bucky looked back again, just in time to see the armoured man leap off the front of the 4x4 towards the motorbike.

"Hang on!" Bucky shouted to Lex, catching the man and flinging him over his head.

"Shit!" Lex shouted as the bike leaned down on its side. Bucky reached around Lex with one arm to grab onto the handlebars, before kicking his assailant away. He straightened the bike upright, and Lex continued to ride on.

"Are you okay?" he shouted as Lex continued to weave in between cars.

"Well, I've had better days, I'm not going to lie!" she shouted back. She glanced over her shoulder to look behind them. "Bucky, at this rate we aren't going to outrun them, that guys suit seems to be powered and the other guy... well..."

Bucky pulled his backpack to the front of him, pulling a small detonating device he had put together for emergencies.

He looked back over his shoulder. "Whatever you hear, keep driving."

"What?"

"Just do it."

Bucky threw the sticky bomb and it attached to the roof of the underpass, taking only a couple of seconds until it blew up. The ceiling of the underpass began to crumble and collapse, bringing down tonnes of rubble. The man in the armoured suit leapt from the man wearing the winged jet pack he had been hanging onto, throwing himself at Bucky and Lex.

"Watch out!" Bucky shouted, leaning forward and grabbing Lex around the waist with his titanium arm. The man knocked them both from the bike, Bucky holding tightly onto Lex as he fell to the road, being cautious to try and make sure she didn't hit the pavement too hard.

Steve swerved the 4x4 through the rubble, leaping out and pulling the armoured man away from Bucky as he tried to attack him again.

Bucky rolled as the man was pulled from him, releasing Lex who groaned as she tried to get to her hands and knees. She was bleeding from her elbows and had a small cut on her cheek. Steve stood between Bucky and the sleek and muscular armoured man, facing off as Bucky stood up.

Armed police arrived, surrounding them with their weapons drawn and poised on them.

Before anyone could move, War Machine appeared, dropping between Steve and the armoured stranger.

He aimed both his arm cannons and a few extra weapons in his arsenal at all four of them. "Stand down, now."

Bucky moved to stand next to Steve, as he put his shield back onto his back, not saying a word.

"Congratulations, Cap, you're a criminal," War Machine said sardonically.

"Wait... what?" Lex asked suddenly, struggling to her feet and trying to stand near Bucky. She collapsed to her hands and knees and Bucky went to help her, but the police moved in, forcing him to his knees beside her. "A criminal? You mean he was trying to help you?"

"Sorry, Lex, you weren't supposed to get involved," Bucky said apologetically, as the police surrounded them both.

Bucky looked to the stranger. He was raising his hands above his head and retracting his claws. He slowly reached for his head, before removing his helmet.

War Machine looked at him, before lowering his weapons trained on him. "Your highness."

Bucky was pushed down to the ground, his arms pinned behind his back, but he didn't fight back. He glanced sideways at Lex.

Police surrounded her too, forcing her arms behind her. "Ow! Do you mind?" She elbowed one of the armed police officers in the head, earning her a baton to her ribs. "Ugh."

"Just do as they say, Lex, don't get yourself in anymore trouble on my account."

"Don't flatter yourself, Bucky," she retorted as she was pushed to the ground, causing him to look at her in confusion.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	3. Legend

**Flying through these today. Keeping my fingers warm as Winter is on its way!**

 **I mean that literally, not like in the story...Its literally coming into Winter in Australia... ha**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Legend**

Steve sat inside a van as it sped through the streets on their way to Berlin, with Sam behind him, T'challa, the Wakandan Prince in front of him and the mysterious woman in front of him, heavily restrained.

Sam leaned forward, eyeing off the Wakandan Prince. "So, you like cats?"

"Sam," Steve warned him.

"What? Dude shows up in a cat suit and you don't want to know more?" Sam retorted.

Steve sighed, while he understood his friend's curiosity, his mouthy nature was going to get him in trouble one day.

He looked closely at the Wakandan Prince. "Your suit, it's made of Vibranium?"

T'challa glanced sideways, narrowing his eyes. "The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So, I ask you... as both warrior and king... how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at T'challa. Bucky had said to him when he had spoke to him in his apartment that he hadn't been in Vienna, and that he didn't do that anymore. He knew there had to be more to the story, but how he was going to find that out, he didn't know.

"Well, I would love to know how he can be in two places at once," the woman spoke up suddenly, turning her head slightly sideways as they headed into an underground car park. "I mean, I get it, you guys are like super soldiers or something, but it would be one hell of a fast trip to get from Vienna to Bucharest in only a couple of hours, without being seen."

"And you are?" Steve asked after a moment of considering her words. She had an Australian accent, he recognised it from TV shows he had watched while trying to catch up with the world. Her blonde hair, while dishevelled, was tied back into a bun, and he could see she was sporting cuts and bruises on her face.

"Bucky's neighbour."

"And does Bucky's neighbour have a name?" Sam asked pointedly.

"None of your damn business," she answered, turning back to face the front. Steve was curious about the woman, he recalled seeing Bucky trying to get to her in the underpass, and also watching as she tried to slow T'challa down, without much luck. The fact that she had continued after him, even after being left behind on the building, had Steve intrigued as to who she was. He'd seen her fighting inside the apartment building, she could easily hold her own, and hadn't taken a back step when faced with a stair case full of fully trained, armed tactical police officers.

They were unloaded from the van, the woman led by her handcuffs by an armed guard.

Steve turned to watch as was Bucky was transported into the Joint Counter Terrorist centre inside a prison pod. The pod featured state of the art restraints, specifically designed to stop people like him from breaking free. Bucky didn't look at Steve, but glanced towards the woman as she was led away, but the woman never once looked up to meet his gaze.

Steve and Sam began walking towards Sharon Carter, T'challa following closely behind. She was standing beside a diminutive, gray-head man, who wore a sullen look on his face.

"What's going to happen to him?" Steve demanded, as he stopped before them.

The grey haired man responded before Sharon could. "The same thing that ought to happen to you, psychological evaluation and extradition."

"This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander," Sharon replied, appearing rather put off by the man by her side.

"What about our lawyer?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at the small man.

"Lawyer, that's funny." He looked to Sharon and motioned towards them. "See that their weapons are placed in lock up. Oh, we'll write you a receipt."

Sam narrowed his eyes at Everett as they began to follow him into the building. "I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that."

As they began to walk away, Steve looked back and caught Bucky's eye, who looked from him back to the woman who had been helping him, a meaningful look in his eye.

"What about the girl that was with Bucky? What's going to happen with her?" Steve asked, looking back towards Everett.

"Oh, she'll be charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive, assaulting numerous police officers, and whatever previous criminal charges she no doubt has, considering the company she keeps," Everett replied snidely.

Steve frowned, looking at Sharon who walked beside him. "Who is she?"

"We don't know, she hasn't given us a name and so far, we have absolutely no intel on her," Sharon replied, sounding slightly exasperated. She glanced sideways at Steve, an apologetic look on her face. "There's nothing on her, we can't find any record of her by facial recognition, by licence, fingerprint, nothing."

"Are you saying she doesn't exist?" Sam asked dubiously. "Because when she jumped up and grabbed me on that building, it felt a lot like she existed."

"We're looking into it," Sharon answered curtly.

They were led upstairs to the offices inside the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre and shown two offices.

"You'll be provided with an office, instead of a cell," Everett said, motioning down the skywalk towards the offices. "Do me a favour, stay in it?"

"I don't intend on going anywhere," T'challa replied flatly. Steve and Sam looked at each other before looking down the hallway as Natasha walked towards them. She stopped in front of Steve.

"For the record, this is what making it worse looks like," she murmured to him, as she led them both down the hallway, where Tony was on his phone.

"He's alive," Steve replied as they stopped near Tony.

"No. Romania was not Accords-sanctioned," Tony said into his phone. "And, Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup."

"Try not to break anything while we fix this," Natasha warned, looking pointedly between Steve and Sam.

"Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that 'cause I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

"Consequences?" Steve asked curiously.

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something," Tony replied in an offhand manner, as if it meant next to nothing at all.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve asked flatly, looking at Natasha.

"Technically, it's the government's property. Wings, too," she replied matter-of-factly.

"That's cold," Sam said with a hiss, narrowing his eyes at Natasha who shrugged and looked at him as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Warmer than jail," Tony bit back.

* * *

Steve was agitated after having it out with Tony about the accords, again. They were never going to see eye to eye over it, especially when Tony couldn't see the harm that was going to be done by it.

He sat in the office designated to them, watching the screens on the walls. One was of Bucky's prison pod inside a specially developed bunker style room, while the other was the woman.

They still didn't know who she was, but she was sat inside an interview room with her hands cuffed to the table. Sharon entered their office as Natasha walked into the interview room with the woman. "The receipt for your gear."

She handed it to Sam. "Bird costume? Come on!"

Sharon raised her hands up in surrender. "I didn't write it." She looked to the screen Steve was looking at.

"Any info on her yet?" Steve asked curiously, seeing her looking at the screen too.

"Must have, if Natasha is in there." Sharon looked out of the windows of the office to see if anyone was looking before reaching forward and pushing a button on the commlink, which stopped the restriction on the audio from the interview room.

"So, you want to give us your name yet?" Natasha asked, sitting down across from the woman. The woman yawned, moving her head from side to side, as if to work kinks out of it.

"Would you be here if you didn't already know it?"

Natasha smirked, before leaning forward. "I want to tell you a story..."

"Let me guess, a story of a young girl, taken from her family, trained to be a spy, a killer and a ghost?" She leaned forward, looking straight into Natasha's face. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Romanoff?"

Steve, Sam and Sharon looked at each other in confusion, before looking back at the screen.

" _You know me?"_ Natasha spoke in Russian, an automatic translation system kicking in, the translation appearing at the bottom of the screen. Natasha barely registered any surprise on her face.

" _You're the only one left, child. Other than me, that is, although, obviously, they never made another like me, did they?"_ the woman responded, nonchalantly.

Natasha gave a small smile. _"We were told you'd been killed, Nikulkin."_

Steve and Sam leaned forward, staring at the screen. "What the hell?" Sam breathed. "Is she?"

"I think so."

All three stared at the screen as Natasha continued to speak to her.

"Alexia Nikulkin. You were legend in The Red Room, what happened to you?" Natasha asked in English again, leaning back in her chair again.

"What? You want your new bosses to easily understand now without translations?" the detained woman asked with a knowing smirk. "They tried to send me off to HYDRA, to be trained and tested on because I was the strongest they'd ever had, but they didn't count on me being THAT strong."

"So you broke free?"

"Broke free, killed every single person on that escort and then went after the teachers at The Red Room." Her smirk was unsettling, almost evil. "I would have continued if it weren't for HYDRA and The Red Room sending people after me. Six Black Widows, and five HYDRA operatives later, I thought it was better to just lay low and live."

"So why Bucky, Alexia?"

Steve noticed Alexia furrowed her brow and cocked her head to one side. It told him plenty.

"Why Bucky? Wait, you thought I was targeting Bucky?"

"Weren't you?"

"Hey, I was hiding out there first," she replied defensively. "I'd been living in Bucharest for the last three years, probably the longest I've ever stayed in one place, it was well enough away from prying eyes, and then he rocks up suddenly, looking all sad and mopey."

Steve chewed the inside of his cheek, so she wasn't after him. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"So you're telling me, you had no idea who he was? Or that he was on the run?" Natasha asked dubiously.

Alexia smiled wryly. "Well, of course, I knew there was something up. Furnished room, cash payment, no bond, the only people who lived in that building were either poor as hell or running from something. And he was clearly, no exception."

"Then, if you were happy where you were, why'd you help him?" Natasha asked, leaning on the table with her elbows.

Alexia sighed and pursed her lips then, before scoffing. "Honestly, it was more of a reflex action to having a rifle raised towards me than anything chivalrous," she answered leaning back. "But, once that first hit was in, I could tell he wasn't leaving me behind either."

Steve felt his heart soar slightly. Bucky was still in there. Only Bucky would do everything he could to protect someone else.

"So, tell me, Romanoff, he's the Winter Soldier, right?" Alexia asked finally, looking at Natasha knowingly. Natasha didn't answer, but folded her arms across her chest instead. "Ahhh, so he's the one that took my place."

"What? Did she just say that?" Sam exclaimed in utter shock.

"Wait... that means..." Sharon murmured.

"She's enhanced," Steve finished, remembering everything that had happened in Bucharest. Jumping from the balcony, keeping pace with Bucky, disarming and subduing multiple armed personnel. It explained everything.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked in confusion. "He took your place?"

"You said it yourself, Romanoff, I was legend in The Red Room. The best of the best. HYDRA heard of me too, and they had...plans...underway. I fitted the bill for the first test subject."

"So what happened?"

"I overheard them when the drugs wore off prematurely. You see, the serum in my blood burned through the drugs faster than they anticipated, but they were saying I was the first of the WINTER project. I was going to be turned into a 'blank slate'. Even as a sixteen year old, I had a good idea what that meant."

Steve wanted to say something, to break the silence in the office, but there was so much he needed to let sink in.

"Sixteen..." Sharon breathed.

"Wait... so how old is she now? Because she's looking mighty fine for a hundred year old."

"Well, I'm sure you know what to expect now then?" Natasha asked finally, standing up from the table.

"Sure, poking, prodding, prison, if they can find one to hold me," she winked, stretching her shoulders and smiling. "Oh, by the way, when they figure out how Bucky got fourteen hours away within hours of hanging out with me, let me know, will ya? You know, just between us girls?"

Steve looked at Sharon expectantly. She shrugged, shaking her head. He understood her reaction, no one in a position of authority would accept her as an alibi. They would be looked at as the bad helping the bad. He sighed, leaning back in his seat, lost as to what he could do to help.

* * *

 **I have to admit, I'm really enjoying making my OC seem just a little bit deranged. I wonder if that's saying something about me hehe**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	4. Falling

**Writing this fic is proving a little bit addictive.**

 **Thank you to marylopez0812 for the review**

 **And thanks to Plume85 for following.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Falling**

After watching Natasha's interrogation of Alexia Nikulkin, the doctor arrived to evaluate Bucky.

Sharon switched the audio to the bunker he was being held in.

"I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions," the doctor said calmly, opening a folder in front of him. "Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky."

Steve smiled grimly at the screen, but began to think carefully through all the events of the last 24 hours. Alexia's alibi for Bucky also lingered on his mind. He looked down at the file in front of him, that showed the surveillance footage from the bombing. A thought occurred to him.

"Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?"

"Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?" Sharon answered matter-of-factly.

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier," Steve said, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

Sharon considered his words for a moment. "You're saying someone framed him to find him."

"Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing," Sam argued, putting his hands on his hips.

"He didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads," Steve murmured, still thinking it through.

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guaranteed that we would," Sharon said before narrowing her eyes at the screen. Steve looked at her as she stared at the screen, deep in thought.

"Yeah." He looked back at the screen.

"Tell me, Bucky. You've seen a great deal, haven't you?" The doctor asked, his voice was European, but Steve couldn't place it, although he was certain he had heard a similar accent before.

"I don't want to talk about it," Bucky mumbled. Steve felt for his old friend.

"You fear that... if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." Steve noticed the doctor touching his tablet, seeming to check his emails. It was an odd thing to do in the middle of an evaluation, especially one of such importance as this. "Don't worry, we only have to talk about one."

Suddenly, all power cut to the building, the screens went dead and the lights went out. Slowly, emergency lighting flicked on in the hallways.

Steve, Sam and Sharon all looked at each other in concern, before springing to action.

"Sub-level 5, east wing," Sharon said knowingly, walking to the door immediately and not looking back.

Steve and Sam hurried through the building. "Go and get Alexia," Steve ordered Sam.

"Alexia? Why?"

Steve stopped and looked at Sam. "She may not have gotten to the brainwashing stage, but she's one of them. She might be able to help us out where Bucky can't, she might even know something we don't."

"Roger that." Sam took off down another corridor while Steve continued looking for the room that contained Bucky.

* * *

He eventually found it, bodies of the security detail strewn across the floor under the red emergency lights. He hurried into the room, looking for any sign of Bucky, but the prison pod was empty.

"Help me. Help," the doctor called from the floor near the now overturned desk.

Steve moved towards him, grabbing him by his shirt and hoisting him to his feet. "Get up." He shoved him against the wall. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The doctor smiled menacingly. "To see an empire fall."

Sam hurriedly entered the room, looking around suspiciously, moving towards Steve. As Sam walked further into the room, Bucky stepped out from the shadows, swinging his fist at Sam. He saw him at the last moment, ducking and causing Bucky to smash his fist through the wall.

Bucky grabbed Sam by the throat and threw him at the open pod, causing him to land heavily, falling into a heap on the floor.

Steve lunged forward and landed a punch to Bucky's face, but it had no affect on the Winter Soldier. Bucky began attacking Steve with an onslaught of punches and kicks, causing Steve to fall back as he tried to duck and weave them.

He soon found himself backed against the elevator doors, he dodged another punch from Bucky that went through the steel elevator door like it was paper. Steve could see Bucky's next punch coming, but he had nowhere to go, and no shield to help protect him. He braced himself for the hit.

* * *

Suddenly, Alexia came charging through, tackling Bucky roughly from the side. Steve looked on in awe as she rolled away from Bucky before he could grab her. She crouched low, eyeing off Bucky as he glared at her, her blonde hair falling across her face. "Whoa, buddy, get up on the wrong side of the bed?" she murmured, with a menacing smirk on her face.

Bucky charged at her and she was quick to roll backwards, before lunging forwards and catching Bucky by his titanium arm, she used her momentum to throw him backwards, rolling away from him again. He stood quickly, as did she, and he began trying to punch at her, but she was quick to dodge his swinging arms.

Steve was quick to move in and try and help Alexia, trying to take some of the brunt of his attack. She slipped behind him as Steve drew his attention, launching onto his back in an effort to try and subdue him, but Bucky was able to grab her by her shirt, reefing her backwards and loosening her grip enough for him to throw her roughly into a wall.

While Steve's attention was on Alexia, Bucky attacked him again, backing him against the elevator doors again. Steve tried to dodge Bucky's attacks, but Bucky broke through his guard, kicking him with such force it sent him tumbling down the elevator shaft.

At the bottom of the elevator shaft, Steve pushed himself up off the ground with a groan. It had been a long way down.

"Hey!" A voice called from above him. He looked up to see Alexia looking down from the floor above him. "You might want to move your ass if you want to catch him, he's headed for the roof, and your bird buddy has gone after Zemo." She disappeared, and he heard running footsteps.

He was quick to climb out of the elevator shaft and headed up to the helipad. Steve rushed outside, seeing the chopper beginning to take off and sprinted towards it as it began to rise. He leapt up, grabbing hold of the skids.

Steve pulled down hard, using all his weight and strength to try and stop the chopper from gaining any height, but Bucky began steering the chopper away from the landing pad.

Steve tried to find some traction with his feet, but slowly, the chopper began to drag him onto the chain link safety frame that surrounded the helipad. Steve grabbed a railing with one hand, still clinging to the skids of the chopper with the other in an effort to stop him escaping.

He grit his teeth and strained with incredible effort to hold the chopper and prevent Bucky from getting away again. It had taken two years to find him, he wasn't easily giving up.

Just as Steve's strength was beginning to fail him, shots were fired, and the sound of bullets hitting metal rang out. Steve looked up stunned to see Alexia, with a rifle in hand, aiming at the helicopter.

The chopper's nose turned sharply and slammed into the edge of the helipad. The rotor blades smashed to pieces against the concrete and Steve ducked as the tail swung around, hitting the helipad as he endeavoured to avoid being sliced to pieces. The chopper lay as a twisted mess on the safety frame at the edge of the pad.

Steve rose from where he had dove out of the way, looking back at Alexia as she walked slowly towards the downed chopper, rifle trained on the cockpit, her eyes never leaving the still form of Bucky in the pilot's seat until she was next to Steve.

"You Americans like doing things the hard way, huh?" she mocked, glancing at him sideways as she went move forward again, rifle still trained onto the cockpit window. Steve stopped her with a hand, looking pointedly at her. She narrowed her eyes slightly, but held her position, allowing him to move forward towards the cockpit, he peered inside.

Bucky looked still, his head lolled to one side, some blood appearing in his hair line where he had struck the cockpit window in the crash.

Suddenly, the glass smashed as Bucky's titanium arm burst through the glass and he grabbed Steve's throat, growling angrily and beginning to squeeze tightly. Steve could feel his airways being crushed by the strength of Bucky's titanium arm and tried to pull away with no luck. The chopper started to list over the edge.

"Rogers!" Alexia shouted, dropping the rifle to grab at him, but Bucky's arm was too strong. "Stuff it." She punched through the glass, hard, smashing her fist to Bucky's forehead and knocking him out cold.

But it was too late.

The tail of the chopper broke off and fell into the river below. Although knocked out, Bucky's titanium hand still had hold of Steve, as the whole vehicle fell and slammed into the river below. Steve felt the cold impact as he hit the water. He managed to free himself and worked to get Bucky out of the chopper, trying to pull the door open. He heard a splash behind him and within seconds Alexia appeared beside him, helping him force open the door and pull Bucky out.

The body of the chopper sank to the depths of the river quickly, as Alexia and Steve broke to the surface of the water, inhaling air into their lungs. Steve looked to the female super soldier to check on her, but she was already taking Bucky's other arm and beginning to swim to the shore.

* * *

 **Shorter chapter, sorry to disappoint, just the way it worked out.**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	5. Alike

**Back to a decent length chapter.**

 **Thanks to SebEk for following :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Alike**

In a huge, abandoned warehouse, Alexia sat on a work bench, a first aid kit resting in her lap as she administered first aid to herself.

"Are you sure you don't want some help with that?" Sam asked, looking slightly disturbed, as he and Steve watched her pull glass out of her bleeding arm. It was torn up in places, but she hardly seemed fazed by it.

"Where's the fun in that? It's kind of like that kids game that came out in the 90s, Operation. Lots of fun."

Steve saw Sam's eyes widen and his jaw fall open slightly.

"So, Alexia, you're a Black Widow?" Steve asked curiously.

Alexia winced slightly, although he couldn't tell if that was because she had just pulled another piece of glass out of her fist, or if it was something he said.

"Lex is fine. The only people who called me Alexia were THEM." She put down the tweezers she had been using and pulled some bandages and gauze out of the first aid kit. "No, I was SUPPOSED to be a Black Widow, until I made the mistake of being the best. Then they wanted me to be something else." She nodded her head towards Bucky.

"You were supposed to be the Winter Soldier?" Sam asked.

"Right. But being that I was the first subject, they made the mistake of giving me the serum before making me complicit, they also underestimated the will of a sixteen year old."

He found it hard to believe, but she sounded almost proud of herself. He also struggled with the fact that at sixteen she had taken the life of another and seemed pleased with herself. "So, you've been hiding out all this time?" Steve asked, folding his arms.

She narrowed her eyes at him for a split second, a calculating look appearing on her face. "You say that like it's a bad thing, Captain?" She began placing gauze along her hand and wrist.

"Well, that is a long time, you couldn't find something more to do than hide?" Steve replied pointedly. In that time there had been many wars, dictators had come and gone and major crimes had been committed across the world. The thought of someone sitting back and hiding when they could have been helping didn't exactly sit well with him.

Her top lip curled slightly as she looked through her lashes at him. "Well, if you call hunting down those responsible for what happened to me hiding, sure." She grinned malevolently, before trying to wrap bandages around her wrist. The way she spoke, the way she smiled, it all made Steve incredibly uneasy.

"So how old are you, exactly?" Sam finally asked. Steve knew it had been bothering Sam since he had heard her say Bucky took her place.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes, her eyes appearing nearly black. "Didn't your mother ever tell you never to ask a lady her age?"

Sam gaped at her slightly before looking at Steve. "I'm gonna go check on sleeping beauty."

Steve continued to silently watch Lex for a few minutes, as she worked to wrap her wrist. Finally, he stood and walked over to her, taking the bandages from her. She furrowed her brow at him, but he ignored her, wrapping her bloodied wrist up carefully. "So you befriended Bucky in Bucharest, just because he was your neighbour?"

Lex screwed up her nose. "Yeah, I don't know why I did it, either. I'd never bothered before. Just something about him had me... curious." She sighed. "It was like, he was this big, mean looking guy, but something about the look in his eyes had me confused."

"What do you mean? Steve asked, tying off the bandages.

"Well, here's was this big, burly guy, giving off this appearance of being broody and scary, but I saw fear in his eyes. And not normal fear." She pursed her lips into a thin line. "It was a familiar feeling, I guess."

Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise, before giving her a small smile. It warmed his heart to think that Bucky hadn't been completely alone, even if it was only a small interaction. Up closer to her, he could see Lex carried a few scar in places, a couple of her face, a few on her arms. She was battle scarred. Yet, she seemed to have this overly optimistic outlook, even after everything she had been through. It was admirable.

He heard a chopper flying over head as he leaned against workbench Lex was sat atop of, leaning forward to peer through a hole in the roof.

"We're not going to be able to stay here much longer," Lex warned.

Steve nodded, he knew she was right, he just wasn't sure what options they had left.

* * *

Bucky came to, finding his titanium arm clamped in a huge industrial vice. He tried to move it, but it was stuck fast. His head felt cloudy, everything after meeting with the doctor was hazy. His head ached painfully, he groaned and shook his head in an attempt to clear the haze.

"Hey, Cap!" Bucky looked up to see a familiar face. It was Steve's friend, the one who flew with wings. Sam.

Steve appeared through a doorway, walking to stand next to Sam. They stared at him for a moment.

"Steve." He recognised the look Steve gave him. Caution.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?"

Bucky was thoughtful for a moment, as some memories from before the war started to make their way through the haze. "Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."

Steve smirked and uncrossed his arms, instead placing his hands on his hips. "Can't read that in a museum."

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked in exasperation, glancing sideways at Steve.

Bucky considered his position, and it dawned on him. He had been triggered. "What did I do?"

"Enough." Steve looked grim.

"Oh, God, I knew this would happen." Bucky let his head fall forward sombrely. He could imagine what he had done. "Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words." He was thoughtful for a moment, before looking back up at Steve and Sam. "What happened to Lex? Do they have her? Is she hurt?"

"You really like to underestimate a girl, Bucky," came his neighbour's confident and teasing voice. Steve and Sam looked behind them as she entered the room. Her clothes were torn and dirty, her shirt barely covering her body anymore, and her long blonde hair was falling from its elastic band. She moved to stand beside Steve. "I was busy, saving the day."

Bucky's eyes drifted over her. If there was one thing for him to be grateful for at that moment, it was seeing her standing there. He noticed her wrist was bandaged and immediately felt a massive pit of guilt in his stomach. "Did I do that?"

She looked confused for a moment, before looking at her wrist. "Oh," she laughed loudly. "God no, well, I guess you could say kind of, but not really. I did this trying to save his ass." She motioned to Steve with her thumb. Bucky was very confused by her answer, but either way, he was just glad to see she was okay. "You know, you almost make me wish I had stuck around. You were bad ass!"

"Really?" Sam exclaimed in exasperation, looking at her in disgust. "Is psychotic tendencies a prerequisite where you come from?"

She winked at Sam, before folding her arms across her chest. "Don't mind me." She smiled warmly at Bucky, he knew she was trying to cheer him up, but he was slightly confused as to what she wished she'd stuck around for.

Steve looked seriously at Bucky. "Who was he?"

"I don't know."

"People are dead," Steve pressed. "The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."

Bucky racked his memory, trying to remember anything from when he had gone under. It was all quite hazy, but small details began to appear. "He wanted to know about Siberia, where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?" Steve asked in confusion.

Bucky looked up at Steve darkly. "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

"Why does that not surprise me," Lex said with a sigh and a shake of her head. She moved towards Bucky, but Sam grabbed her by the arm.

"Whoa, little lady, I don't think that's a good idea."

She looked down at his hand that held onto her arm. "Neither is that, yet you still did it. And 'little'? Really?" she replied coldly, narrowing her eyes as she looked back to his face. He was quick to release her, and she continued to Bucky, quickly and easily releasing the vice grip on Bucky's arm.

He felt the immediate relief on his shoulder, the hydraulics on his titanium arm kicking in and moving his arm with a quiet hum.

"Thanks," he murmured, not meeting her gaze as she looked down at him.

"I guess this was my fault in a way," Lex said with a sigh, leaning against the vice. Bucky furrowed his brow and looked back up at the woman, from his position kneeling on the floor, her height really showed. "I might have gone after the wrong people, after all."

Steve shook his head. "Not important right now, tell us about them, Buck."

Bucky looked up at Lex in confusion. He had clearly missed a major discussion at some point and couldn't understand how Lex appeared so nonplussed by her current situation. He would think that usually, the general population would come to be in awe of Steve and fearful of him, but she appeared to be affected by neither.

Who was this woman?

* * *

Bucky explained to them, in detail, how he had been used to assist in the making of a squad of Winter Soldiers, just like him, by securing a newly developed serum, similar to the serum created by Dr Erskine and used on Steve.

There were five others out there, just like Bucky, waiting in stasis to be used to do someone's bidding.

"Who were they?" Steve asked, crossing his arms and staring at Bucky as he spoke.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum." Bucky leaned against the wall, looking weary as he recalled the memory.

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked curiously.

"Worse."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this squad were willing participants?" Lex asked from her position leaning against the vice. Bucky nodded. She glanced back to Steve. "That immediately makes them far more dangerous than Bucky could ever be. They believed in the cause."

Steve considered Lex for a moment, she was right. There was nothing more dangerous than someone who believed they were fighting for the righteous cause. He looked back to Bucky. "The doctor, could he control them?"

"Enough."

Steve sighed and placed his hands on hips as he considered what the doctor had said to him at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. He looked to Sam. "Said he wanted to see an empire fall."

"With these guys he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming," Bucky replied, he looked at Steve and he could make out the look of concern in Bucky's eyes.

Sam moved to look at Steve, his back facing Bucky and Lex. "This would have been a lot easier a week ago."

Steve knew what he meant. They were now fugitives, anything they said would be disregarded as lies. He considered their options "If we call Tony..."

"No, he won't believe us," Sam scoffed, shaking his head.

"Even if he did..."

"Who knows if the Accords would let him help," Sam finished off Steve's thought.

"We're on our own," Steve said finally, sighing deeply.

Sam pulled a face and pursed his lips before speaking again. "Maybe not. I know a guy."

Steve raised an eyebrow and Sam shrugged, but didn't say anything else. Steve nodded. "I'll see how retirement is treating Clint. Maybe he can get Wanda out of there."

"Against Vision?"

"He's a clever guy."

"Alright. And what about..." Sam didn't finish, instead turning to look over his shoulder towards Lex. She was watching them with a calm expression on her face, although Steve wondered if her thoughts were as calm as she looked.

Steve knew what he was asking. She wasn't one of them, brought into the fight by accident, if anything, and she also didn't seem to be quite on anyone's side either, preferring to fight for herself. "And what about you?"

"Hmm?" Lex asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly with her arms still folded and looking bored. "What about me?"

"She's got nothing to do with this," Bucky spoke up defensively, moving to stand up.

"Well... actually..." Steve began slowly, looking meaningfully at Lex. Bucky stood straight, looking from Lex to Steve in concern.

"You're up, crazy lady," Sam said, nodding towards her.

* * *

Bucky looked from Sam and Steve to Lex in confusion. He was still trying to regather his thoughts, trying to figure out why she was even there. He was also trying to figure out why Sam, in particular, seemed very wary of her.

She rolled her eyes at Sam's jab at her and stood up straight, looking straight at Bucky _. "My name is Alexia Nikulkin, and I was supposed to be the first Winter Soldier,"_ she said in perfect Russian.

Bucky froze, staring at Lex. She cocked her head to one side, looking sympathetically at him. "What?" He sought confirmation, looking to Steve, who gave a small nod, confirming what she had just said. "How?"

"I was the initial test subject for Project WINTER. However, as all first tests, they had a few... teething issues," she said, Bucky noticing a malevolent smirk gracing her lips as she spoke. "I killed my escort and escaped, went back to have a little revenge over The Red Room, but have been lying low ever since."

"Alexia here, was originally a Black Widow, like Romanoff," Steve added, trying to help him put together the pieces. Bucky looked at Steve, blinking a few times. His head was beginning to hurt, but not because of his previous condition.

He looked back to Lex. "You're like me?"

"Kind of... Like you, I wasn't a willing participant, even going through the Red Room. While I was the best they had, I had made sure to remind myself I was only doing enough to survive until I could get out of there. At least, until HYDRA showed up to ruin my plans." She pulled a face as Bucky saw a flash of anger pass over her eyes. He had never seen anything like it on her face before. Her usual chirpy nature seemed a lot darker than he remembered. "Anyway, Sorry."

He blinked. He was struggling to comprehend everything she had just told him, and now suddenly, she was apologising. "What?"

"Sorry. For, you know, this." She gestured towards him in general.

"You just motioned to all of me."

"Yeah, I know."

He looked from her to Steve In confusion, and found he looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Man, you guys make a great couple and all, but I think we got shit to do," Sam piped up suddenly, interrupting their conversation. Bucky couldn't help but feel mildly glad too. He didn't know what to think about his current situation.

"I'm going to make some phone calls," Steve said pointedly at Sam.

"I'll join you, we can get Clint to pick up my guy," Sam replied, joining Steve as they went into another area of the warehouse to make the encrypted phone call.

Bucky looked at the ground as he tried to piece together all the information he had just been given. "So, you're enhanced too?"

"Yep, although, perhaps they refined the serum after me, I couldn't tell you," she replied, yawning. He looked back up to try and look into her eyes, but he felt like she was avoiding looking at him, as she glanced to the other room of the warehouse where they could now hear Sam and Steve.

He couldn't get by how nonchalant she seemed by all of this. Then a thought struck him. "Did you know about me in Bucharest? About who I was?" He felt like his stomach tightened as he considered the possibility that she had known, and this had all been an elaborate set up on her behalf for some reason.

She finally looked at him again, a severe expression on her face. "I've been hiding for over a hundred years, Bucky. Do you really think that I would have risked my freedom like that, if I had known you were one of THEM?" That hurt. Categorising him with HYDRA. And it must have shown. "Sorry. That didn't come out right." She bit her lip and looked apologetic.

He looked at her thoughtfully, recalling another moment in Bucharest. "So when I helped you in the alley?"

She gave a light laugh, her face lighting up jovially again, like he remembered. "Yeah, I didn't actually need your help. I was rather enjoying the opportunity for a workout and then you went and had to take the fun out of it. Do you know how hard it is to play a victim?"

Bucky also gave a slight laugh at the face she pulled. As it sunk in further that she was like him, he had to admit, it was nice to have someone who could relate to him, even if it was only in some small way.

Steve appeared at the doorway, eyebrows raised as he took in the pair. Bucky hadn't noticed that he'd drifted closer to her as they had spoken, and quickly turned away from Lex to look at Steve. "We've got to get going."

* * *

 **Okay...yes... I used a line out of How to Train your dragon. Hahaha...I got kids man, that line is one of my favourite things about that movie because it is absolutely something I would say hahahaha**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	6. Suit Up

**So I just found out what Groot said to Rocket at the end of Infinity War...**

 **WWWAAAHHHHH! Sob...**

 **Okay, I'm good (said no one after seeing Infinity War ever...)**

 **Thank you to fangtastic21, winterhail, kendramann, animelover78861 and Angi Marie for favouriting/following :)**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Suit Up**

Bucky sat in the back seat of an old, beat up VW beetle beside Lex, as they watched Steve meet with the pretty blonde woman he had seen Steve talking to at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. Imagine his surprise when Steve told him that she was Agent Carter's niece.

It was a tight fit for him in the back seat. Sam had his seat back, leaving Bucky with very little leg room. He fidgeted in an effort to get comfortable.

They watched as Sharon looked back at the car, eyeing off the occupants.

He wasn't sure if Sam and Lex could hear the two talking, but his heightened hearing meant that he could.

"Not sure you understand the concept of a getaway car," she commented, looking slightly amused.

"It's low profile," Steve replied.

"Good, because this stuff tends to draw a crowd," she said pointedly, opening the trunk of her car. Bucky couldn't see what was inside, but he had a pretty good idea when he saw Steve give a small smile.

"So... those two... together...?" Lex piped up, leaning forward to rest her chin on the back of the driver's seat.

"Should be," Sam answered, not looking away from the pair in front of them. Lex frowned and raised her eyebrows at Sam's response before shaking her head.

Bucky tried to get comfortable again. "Can you move your seat up?"

"No," Sam answered bluntly

Bucky heard Lex try and stifle a laugh next to him, as he narrowed his eyes at the back of Sam's head. He slid sideways, so he was now sat in the middle of the back seat, and closer to Lex. He turned his attention back to the couple in front of them.

"I owe you again," Steve said, looking gratefully at Sharon.

"Keeping a list," she joked lightly, before glancing back at Bucky. He recognised the look of apprehension in her eyes. "You know, he kinda tried to kill me."

"Sorry. I'll put it on the list, too," Steve replied with a sigh.

"You've really got to try and work on your people skills, Bucky," Lex teased, with an off centre grin as she glanced sideways at him. He didn't answer her, looking ruefully at the blonde agent. Putting a face to a victim always hurt.

Steve broke the silence. "They're going to come looking for you."

"I know."

"Thank you, Sharon." They all watched on as Steve leaned in and embraced Sharon, taking her lips in his.

Bucky and Sam grinned, Steve feeling his chest swelling with a strange sense of pride at his friend. He almost forgot this was the same guy that had trouble talking to girls in their younger days.

"Blegh!" Lex exclaimed loudly, making Bucky and Sam both look at her in exasperation. She looked back at them and shrugged. "What?"

When they all eventually looked back to Sharon and Steve, they had pulled apart.

"Smooth, Lex," Sam muttered under his breath as he shook his head. Bucky was just happy to see his pal moving on in the world.

"Why are you guys acting like him kissing someone is a big deal?"

"Because it IS, a big deal," Sam retorted as Steve began to gather the contents of Sharon's trunk. It was his uniform, shield and Sam's wings.

"It is?"

"Like you, he's a hundred years old, except he's been on ice for seventy of those years. Have you been living under a rock?" Sam asked looking back at her in wonder.

"Yes, it's called Romania," she replied, pulling a face. "I don't generally pay any attention unless the words HYDRA come up in conversation," she replied in an offhand manner as Sam rolled his eyes and got out of the car to help Steve.

"Before he became Captain America, he was terrible with girls," Bucky explained with the slightest of grins as he recalled the many failed attempts to get Steve a girl. Bucky gave a little laugh, gaining full Lex's attention. "You know, when we were growing up together, I spent so much time trying to help get him a girl. He was the most awkward guy around girls."

Lex raised her eyebrows. "Really, that guy? Terrible with girls? Look at him, wouldn't he be like a magnet, with those biceps?"

Bucky turned to look at Lex, furrowing his brow. "You know, he didn't always look like that, right?"

"He didn't?" she asked, as she glanced to the back of the car to look at Steve, Bucky looking too. Bucky realised that she had probably been locked away in The Red Room from a very young age, to graduate at sixteen, and had not learnt anything about Captain America. He looked away for a moment, considering what kind of childhood that must have been like for her.

He looked back at Lex to see her looking at him with mild interest. "Your boy is all grown up, huh?"

Bucky laughed quietly, again. "Yeah, I guess."

Lex looked thoughtfully at Bucky for a moment, before turning her attention back to the front as Steve and Sam got back in the car.

* * *

Steve parked the car on the sixth level of a parking garage at the Leipzig/Halle airport. He parked by a beaten up, off white, utility van and got out, Sam, Bucky and Lex following suit.

A man climbed out of the driver's seat of the van, he was dressed all in black, and moved to greet Steve. "Cap."

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice," Steve greeted him apologetically, as they shook hands.

"Hey man, you're doing me a favour. Besides, I owe a debt." He nodded to Sam and looked past Steve to Bucky and Lex, furrowing his brow when he looked at her.

"Thanks for having my back," Steve said gratefully, looking past Clint to Wanda as she appeared from the other side of the van.

Wanda shrugged nonchalantly. "It was time to get off my ass," she replied, glancing meaningfully at Clint.

Steve looked to Clint. "How about our other recruit?"

Clint raised his eyebrows and grinned. "He's rarin' to go." Bucky detected some sarcasm in his voice. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but... he should be good." He turned and walked back to the van, pulling open the sliding door roughly.

There was a man lying in the back, who was shaken from his slumber in surprise. He looked around, before sleepily climbing out of the van. "What time zone is this?"

"Come on, come on," Clint muttered, ushering him towards the others.

He looked around until he saw Steve, quickly moving to greet him. He offered his hand to Steve, looking at him in awe. "Captain America."

"Mr. Lang." Steve looked at him in amusement as he continued to shake his hand over-enthusiastically.

"It's an honour. I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow! This is awesome! Captain America." He looked around and his eyes finally fell on Wanda. "I know you, too. You're great!" He turned back to look at Steve again, before finally letting go of Steve's hand and reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so... Thinks for thanking of me."

Lex was leaning on the car next to Bucky, with her hands resting on the roof and her chin on top of her hands. She leaned sideways slightly and glanced at Bucky. "THAT is the Scott Lang he was telling us about? Where does he find these people?"

Bucky shrugged, this guy was weird, and that in itself was saying something, coming from a one hundred year old man with a titanium arm.

Scott looked to Sam, smiling and pointing. "Hey man!"

"What's up, Tic Tac?" Sam greeted with a nod in his direction.

"Uh, good to see you," Scott said, before he began to look a little nervously at Sam. "Look, about what happened last time when I..."

Sam gave a small laugh before cutting him off. "It was a great audition, but it'll... it'll never happen again." Sam looked at him pointedly.

Scott raised his eyebrows and looked away awkwardly.

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked him.

"Something about some... psycho-assassins?"

"Is that what they're calling us now?" Lex scoffed loudly, drawing everyone's attention to her as she smirked menacingly. Bucky frowned and looked at her meaningfully, nudging her with his elbow, but she rolled her eyes in response. He turned back to see everyone was looking at her warily.

"We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man," Steve explained, looking around at everyone before him.

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Scott said nonchalantly, shrugging. Steve gave him a grateful smile before looking around at the gathered individuals.

Bucky looked around as well. He looked at Lex, she had her lips pursed, appearing thoughtful. "What are you going to do?"

She turned to look at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to do this, you can go back into hiding, this isn't your fight."

Both her eyebrows raised in surprise and she cocked her head to one side. "Really? You...weren't just expecting me to help?"

"No, you've already done too much. I never meant to get you involved." Bucky looked at her apologetically. He had enjoyed her friendship in Bucharest, but this was never supposed to happen. Even if she was like him, she had left that life behind long before he had even come along to take her place.

She shook her head and sighed. "Well, Bucky, if anything, I owe you." Bucky looked at her in confusion. She sighed and continued. "It's my fault you're like this. If I had stuck around, you wouldn't have been the one to take my place, or at the very least, if I had taken down the WINTER project instead of going into hiding, maybe none of this would have happened either."

She looked sympathetically at Bucky and it was the first time he felt like he saw the real Alexia. Her deep brown eyes seemed to darken slightly, and for a moment, he thought he could see the sixteen year old that had escaped HYDRA and spent her whole life on the run. "You and Steve seem like nice guys, I bet you were a great team back in your day, but because of me, that was stolen from you."

"No, Lex. This sucks, but if it hadn't have happened to me, I would probably be dead anyway, and it would have been someone else. At least if it's me, I can stop it from happening again." She looked up at him, and a small smile graced her lips. "Besides, I wouldn't have met you if anything was different."

She froze and staring up at him, seeming mildly perturbed. "Well, I guess that's one way to look at it."

Bucky smiled at her, lifting his normal hand up slowly, and placed it on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You weren't supposed to get involved, Lex, but I'm glad you did."

She gave a light laugh then, smiling bashfully. "Right." She looked back to the others who were talking quietly amongst themselves. "Well, we should get moving," she called out loudly, drawing their attention to her.

"We got a chopper lined up," Clint said, nodding towards the airport hangars across the tarmac from them.

As they began to move, there was an announcement over the PA system in German. _"This is an emergency. All passengers must evacuate the airport immediately."_

"They're evacuating the airport," Bucky translated, moving to grab his backpack containing his uniform. They had stopped to grab it from his safe spot on their way to the airport, sending Lex in to retrieve it, because at this point in time, she was the least wanted of the four. He was glad he had put into place contingency plans as he had been on the run. They were coming in handy in recent times.

Sam looked to Steve meaningfully. "Stark."

"Stark?" Scott squeaked in awe.

Steve looked back to Bucky and Lex, as Bucky moved around Lex to change into his uniform, before looking back to Clint. "Did you manage to grab what I asked for?"

"Yep, hope it fits," Clint said, motioning to Wanda, who turned and used her powers to summon a backpack from inside the van. She dropped it in Steve's hands.

"It should, I grabbed something close to the vague specifications you gave," Wanda commented certainly.

Steve turned to look at Lex, catching her eye before throwing the backpack to her. "Suit up."

Bucky watched as she caught the bag easily, screwing up her face in annoyance, before sighing and opening the bag to peer inside. She raised her eyebrows, a small smirk appearing on her lips before she glanced back at Steve. Her small smirk became a grin, as she moved to change.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	7. Lady

**I still have no idea where this fic is going to go post CA:CW. Just have to see where my head goes next, I guess.**

 **Thanks to Hurrricane.97 for following :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Lady**

Bucky, Sam and Lex were crouched down inside a terminal of the airport, watching as Steve made a run for the chopper, but he was merely a distraction to draw out Tony Stark's team. They knew they were in the airport somewhere, they just needed to know where, and also to find out where Tony's Quinjet was currently residing.

Sam, suited up in his wing suit, was currently seeking out the Quinjet with his remote controlled drone, Redwing. They were all commlinked through ear pieces so they could hear what was happening.

"How many has Stark got?" Lex asked quietly, peering from their hiding spot out over the tarmac where Steve was now facing four of Tony's team, Iron Man, T'Challa, Black Widow and War Machine.

"Don't know," Bucky replied quietly, he glanced sideways at Lex. She was dressed in an all black full bodysuit, seemingly similar to the one Black Widow wore. Clint had made Wanda find it for her before they made a break from the Avengers headquarters. Her blonde hair was tied back into a high plait, that draped down her back like a thick rope.

In addition to the bodysuit, Clint had given her one of his spare retractable staves, which was now attached to her back by way of a magnet. She fidgeted in the outfit, constantly trying to stretch the sleeves or wiggling her shoulders, but glanced up, meeting his gaze. "What? This shit is uncomfortable, man."

He grinned at her. She tapped his titanium shoulder with her fingernail, touching the red star. "Just couldn't help themselves, could they?"

He sighed grimly, looking away. "Yeah, just in case you ever wanted to forget." She nudged his elbow with hers, bringing his attention back to her. She turned her head and lifted her plait, before lowering her head, moving some stray hairs at the base of her neck.

There, nestled into the base of her hair line, was a red star. It had to be about the size of a golf ball and it looked like she had attempted burning it off at some point, as it was somewhat distorted in places, but it was evident what it was.

He looked at her sympathetically as she straightened up again. _"Don't worry, comrade, I know how you feel,"_ she murmured in Russian, nodding at him, before looking back out to watch Steve.

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

"Steve... you know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?" Natasha asked the super soldier.

Steve didn't answer, and that seemed to annoy Tony.

"All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!"

"Heads up," Lex hissed, as they watched someone appear above Steve. Their warning was too late as the newcomer shot a strange sticky material at Steve, binding his hands together and stealing his shield.

"Nice job, kid," Tony commended him.

"What the hell?" Bucky muttered, staring at the newcomer. "Who is that?" He was small and wirey, dressed in a red and blue full body suit, with what looked like black webs printed on it.

"Thanks," the newcomer replied proudly, holding the shield in one hand and looking to Tony. "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit... Well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-It's perfect. Thank you."

He sounded like a kid.

"Wow," Lex muttered in wonder next to him, narrowing her eyes as she stared at him. "He can't be more than fifteen or sixteen."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation," Tony replied, looking away from the kid.

"Okay," the kid replied, before looking towards Steve. "Cap... Captain. Big fan, I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just..." Tony tried to shut down the conversation.

"Hey, everyone."

" ... good job," Tony finished in exasperation.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sam murmured under his breath, shaking his head at the kid, while still looking at the drone feed on his wrist.

"You've been busy," Steve remarked, a small grin playing on his lips.

Tony flared at Steve. "And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep..." Tony stopped and took a breath. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Steve looked at Tony pointedly. "You did that when you signed."

Tony glared at Steve, looking furious. "Alright, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes and Nikulkin over, you're gonna come with us. NOW! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite." Steve looked away solemnly. "Come on!"

Beside Bucky, Sam straightened slightly, before speaking. "We found it. Their Quinjet's in hanger five, north runway."

Bucky looked from Sam to Lex, to find she was grinning excitedly. "I'm not gonna lie, those J-SOC guys sound like a bit of fun," she murmured playfully, running her tongue over her bottom lip before standing up. Bucky looked at her pointedly before getting up quickly. "Ugh...fine!" She quickly followed suit, standing up quickly.

All three turned and made a run for it, while Scott and Clint worked to free Steve from his binds. "Alright Lang."

Bucky glanced through the windows of the terminal as he saw Scott appear as of from thin air, knocking away Spider-Man and retrieving Steve's shield.

Bucky turned his attention back to the front as he heard War Machine announce their location to the rest of his team.

"We got to move!" Sam said, as they hurried through the terminal.

As they ran, Bucky looked above them and saw something, or someone, swinging along the ceiling of the terminal. "What the hell is that?"

Sam looked up as well. "Everyone's got a gimmick now."

It was the kid that called himself Spider-Man. He changed direction suddenly, smashing through the glass wall and smashing into Sam, knocking him backwards and sending him skittling across the polished floor.

Bucky tried to throw a punch at him with his titanium arm, but Spider-Man easily caught his arm as if it was no effort at all. "You've got a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!" Bucky was stunned as the hydraulics in his arm tried to put against the kid's strength, to no avail. The kid, threw Bucky's arm away, before kicking him away with a fly kick.

"Hey!"

Spider-Man looked in surprise to his left, as Lex kicked at him fiercely, knocking him away from Bucky. "Don't be rude." She raised an eyebrow at Bucky, who lay on the ground where he had landed, as she began walking towards the young boy.

She pulled the stave from her back and fully extended it with a flick of her hand, a malevolent grin appearing on her lips. The kid looked up at her from where he landed. "Whoa, you're a girl."

"Woman, child," she corrected him. "I haven't lived through a hundred years to be called a girl," she ran at him, quickly swinging her stave expertly, to knock away the webs he tried to shoot at her. She swung her stave at him, low, causing him to jump high into the air to avoid it, only to be collected by a flying Sam as he punched through.

Spider-Man recovered enough to sling another web into the rafters to pursue Sam. He swung through the rafters in the terminal, slinging his webs from support beam to support beam, as he chased down Sam.

Sam twisted in the air, flying backwards so he could fire shots at Spider-Man, but they barely slowed him down.

On the first floor, Bucky grabbed Lex and pushed her behind a concrete pylon, before towards a newspaper stand, which he picked up easily, hurling it at the kid, who had stopped on a rafter having knocked Sam down momentarily.

"Oh god!" Spider-Man exclaimed, as he saw the stand soaring through the air towards him.

Bucky ducked behind the pylon next to Lex, who was listening for the impact. Bucky furrowed his brow when they didn't hear anything, carefully looking around it to see if he had managed to hit the kid.

"Hey buddy, I think you lost this!"

"Watch out!" Lex exclaimed, grabbing Bucky roughly and pulling him backwards as Spider-Man threw it back and it crashed into the pylon she and Bucky had been standing behind. Bucky landed on top of Lex. "Oof."

"Sorry." Ignoring their awkward position, he pushed himself up off of her, quickly grabbing her by her arm and hoisting her to her feet easily, as they began running again.

While Spider-Man was distracted by Bucky and Lex, Sam flew by, kicking him with extreme force, off the beam. He was quick to recover though, firing a web, hitting Sam in the back and sending him crashing to the floor. Spider-Man landed, clinging to the side of a concrete pylon effortlessly before he quickly fired another web which bound Sam's wrist to the balcony railing behind him.

"Are those wings carbon fibre?" the kids asked, sounding like he was very much in awe as Bucky tried to make his way to help Sam without being seen.

"Is this stuff coming out of you?" Sam asked in disgust, looking at the web attached to his hand.

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man," the kid continued.

Bucky shook his head slightly, as he tried to get his head around the kid's behaviour. He really was just a young kid.

"I don't know if you've been in a fight before but there's usually not this much talking," Sam said bluntly, looking up at the kid as he continued cling to the side of the pylon, easily manoeuvring around it.

"Right, sorry, my bad," the kid replied, launching himself from the pylon and swinging down as Bucky reached Sam. Bucky jumped in front of Sam, just as Spider-Man reached him, kicking out with both feet and causing Bucky and Sam to fall through the glass down onto the next floor.

The kid webbed up Sam's arms and wings, before webbing Bucky's titanium arm to the floor. "Guys, look. I'd love to keep this up but I've only got one job here today and I gotta impress Mr. Stark. So, really sorry," he said, looking to swing away.

"I don't think so," Lex said, bashing into him and knocking him to the side again.

Spider-Man rolled to his feet along the floor, looking back towards her. "Wow, lady, you're really strong."

"So I'm told," she replied, grinning malevolently again. She lunged forward and Spider-Man went to web her, but she swung her stave quickly, collecting the web on the end before flinging it straight back at him, it connected with his face, sticking there.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, slightly disorientated as he went to pull it off. She was quick to run at him, swinging the stave in her hands. She connected with his back, knocking him forward before she brought her knee up and smashed it into his chest. "Ugh!" He fell backwards, hitting the floor hard.

"What's wrong, kid? You're all talkative against the boys, you don't want to talk with me?" she mocked menacingly, as he struggled back to his feet.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're really scary, lady," Spider-Man said, backing away slightly, before Lex charged at him again. She swung her stave again, and this time he dodged it, trying to punch at her. She blocked his attack with her stave, before flipping, collecting his face with a foot as she spun.

She smashed his ribs repeatedly with her stave, her movements fierce and agile, before spinning it upwards to smash against his face again.

"Geez, lady," Spider-Man moaned, stumbling back. "Where'd you learn to hit like that?"

"Funnily enough, I was about your age when I learnt to kill for the first time," she answered, staring straight at the boy with an icy smile.

Spider-Man faltered slightly. "Wh...what?"

Lex moved to run at him quickly, but he was ready this time. He shot web at her legs, but she flipped to avoid them, spinning mid-air and landing at a crouch. But as she had flipped, he had started running towards her, shooting a web into the rafters and slings hotting himself straight at her, he hit her hard, smashing into her mid section and sending her flying across the terminal. She smashed high into one of the pylons heavily, before falling towards the ground.

* * *

Bucky and Sam had managed to free themselves while Lex had been keeping Spider-Man busy, Bucky turning in time to see Lex get hit hard by Spider-Man.

He ran to catch Lex as she fell from the top of the pylon, sliding along the floor once she was in his arms, while Sam used Redwing to catch one of Spider-Man's webs as he tried to swing up and away through the rafters and drag him out through the glass wall, smashing him into a metal pole as he went, shouting all the way.

Bucky carefully lowered Lex to the floor. She'd hit the pylon very hard, so hard in fact, that some of the concrete had come away and fallen to the ground around them.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky asked sardonically as Sam ran over to check on her too.

"I hate you," Sam responded flatly, before looking at the woman lying in front of him. "Hey, is she okay?" Sam asked in concern.

Bucky touched her neck, feeling a steady pulse. "Yeah, she's out cold though."

Sam looked conflicted for a moment. "Man, we gotta move."

Bucky looked down at Lex lying on the floor. She looked strangely peaceful as she laid there, no malevolent grin, or menacing eyes, her face grimey and blood on her cheek from an open cut. He touched her cheek, wanting to check her over quickly to make sure she didn't have any serious injuries, when her eyes flicked open and her hand shot up to grab his hand roughly.

"Whoa," Bucky exclaimed quickly, trying to calm her as her eyes darted around in a panic. She calmed quickly and her eyes drifted over both their faces, a look of suspicion on her face.

Finally, she winced. "Ooowww."

"That was quite a hit you took," Bucky said, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he and Sam began to help her up.

"It took you two long enough to get free," she muttered, as she finally stood up. She stretched out her shoulders and neck. "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Sam laughed lightly at her, as Bucky shook his head in disbelief, that didn't even come close to describe what they were doing. "Come on," Sam said, motioning for them to follow him. "We gotta catch up with Cap."

They turned and sprinted to the end of the terminal.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	8. The Hype

**So there is one thing that I struggle with when writing scenes where they're dressed as the super hero. Do you call them by their name, or do you call them by the super hero name.**

 **I'm going to apologise in advance because I'm certain it jumps around between the two quite often, but I just can't be decisive over this one detail.**

 **It's infuriating!**

 **Anyway...**

 **Thanks to so many people who have followed and favourited this fic in the last 24 hours. Wow! That's got to be the most amount of responses in a short time I've had on any fic I've ever written. And I don't even consider this one my best.**

 **Thanks to ShiverThriller10023, Aslan's Daughter, 19vanelkc, UNKOWN13 and mrs Tall Blonde and Dead for joining the crew.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **The Hype**

They sprinted out to the tarmac, heading towards Steve.

"There's our ride," Clint called through the comms as he and Wanda ran from where they left Tony under a pile of cars.

"Come on!" Steve shouted as Bucky, Sam and Lex appeared around a truck, Scott joining them from the other side. They all ran towards the hangar containing the Quinjet.

They were stopped in their tracks as a fizzing stream of energy sliced across the concrete runway in front of them, cleanly slicing through the cement. They turned to see Vision hovering overhead. "Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good you must surrender now."

Steve and Bucky glanced at each other as Tony and the rest of his team landed in front of Vision.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked, not taking his eyes off of his former team mates blocking their way.

Steve looked straight at Tony, determination on his face. "We fight."

"Oh goodie," Lex whispered smoothly, a grim smile spreading across her features.

"This isn't going to end well," Natasha murmured as the two teams began running towards each other.

"They're not stopping," Spider-Man shouted, his voice exposing his nerves.

"Neither are we," Tony replied grimly, as his face plate dropped over his face before taking off from the ground and soaring into the air.

Bucky and Lex sprinted towards the armoured Black Panther. As they reached him, he launched himself at Bucky, tackling him roughly and throwing him backwards. Bucky landed heavily on his back, but Lex was quick to knock away the Wakandan, putting herself between Bucky and the Black Panther.

"My fight is with him, not with you," T'Challa warned, eyeing off Lex as Bucky quickly got back to his feet.

"It's with me too, now," she sneered in response. Bucky moved to stand next to her, gaining a sideways glance from her. Bucky felt a strange heat in his cheeks as clenched his jaw as he considered her words.

"Very well," T'Challa replied, leaping forward to attack them both. Bucky and Lex dodged and weaved from Black Panther, taking turns to trade blows with the angry Wakandan.

"Where is your honour?" T'challa growled as he blocked a kick from Lex. "This fight is between the Winter Soldier and I!" He kicked Bucky heavily as he had tried to run at The Black Panther from the side, sending him flying backwards into the side of a truck.

Lex was quick to recover from her strike, dropping low and sweeping her leg behind the Black Panther's feet, felling him heavily. She pulled her stave from her back, extending it with a flick of her wrist, before jumping on top of The Black Panther, the stave pressed across his throat.

"Where's your common sense? He cannot have gotten fourteen hours from Bucharest to Vienna in under five hours!" she snarled, pushing pressure down on the Black Panther's throat.

The Wakandan King managed to free an elbow, knocking her to the head, but it had little affect on her and she just grinned malevolently.

"Excuse me!" Spider-Man shouted as he swung past. Lex looked up in annoyance as he shot a web at her, attaching to her back. He swung away, hoisting her off of The Black Panther and throwing her into the fuselage of a nearby aircraft.

The Black Panther leapt to his feet, sprinting towards Bucky, who was trying to make his way to Lex as she landed heavily on the ground, but The Wakandan King was quick to block his path, kicking and punching at Bucky and stopping Bucky in his tracks.

He reached out to grab Bucky about the throat, as Bucky did the same to him.

"I didn't kill your father," Bucky growled as the Wakandan tried to squeeze his throat tightly.

"Then why did you run?" T'Challa demanded, before pulling Bucky's hand off of his neck, before spinning him away and fly-kicking him backwards.

Bucky landed several metres away before rolling to his feet, he looked back to the Black Panther and watched as he sprouted sharp looking, metal claws from his gloves and started striding towards Bucky again, aiming for his neck.

Before he could get close enough to Bucky, Lex was suddenly behind him again, a fearsome look on her face. She grabbed him about the shoulders, pulling him backwards and struck him in the lower back with great force, with her knee.

T'Challa cried out in pain, as she then flipped him over, causing him to land heavily on his front. She grabbed him roughly by an arm, hoisting the King off the ground and flinging him far away from them, into a passenger gangway.

Bucky stood staring in awe at Lex, before she turned to look at Bucky. Her normally brown eyes were nearly black, as she wiped blood that dripped from her mouth away with the back of her hand. "Move," she ordered darkly, starting to run towards the hangar that contained the Quinjet.

* * *

As they ran, Bucky and Lex came across Steve in the middle of the tarmac, ducking for cover as explosions echoed behind them. They took cover behind some baggage containers.

Bucky looked towards the Quinjet that was easily a good 700m away over open ground, as Sam flew overhead in an effort to avoid War Machine. "We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

"We've got to draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet," Steve said moving to walk away.

Lex screwed up her nose, putting her hand out to stop Steve. "I don't think that's a good idea. The Death Squad aren't going to be a match for average people, Rogers."

"She's right, you get to the jet! All of you!" Sam shouted through comms as War Machine continued to pursue him. "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Clint said with a sigh as he took cover behind a baggage container. "If we're going to win this one, some of us might have to lose it."

Bucky and Steve looked at each other apprehensively. "This isn't the real fight, Steve," Sam said as he soared high into the air.

Steve sighed, dejectedly. "Alright, Sam, what's the play?"

"We need a diversion, something big."

"I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long," Scott piped up on the comms as he sounded like he was climbing something. "On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half... don't come back for me."

Bucky looked at Lex and Steve, concerned about what Scott was planning. "He's going to tear himself in half?" He saw Lex look back towards the main fight with an intrigued expression on her face, as she ran a tongue of over her bottom lip and smirked. She worried him, sometimes.

"You're sure about this, Scott?" Steve demanded, as he, Bucky and Lex ducked again when Iron man flew overhead, as Wanda continued to propel whatever wasn't secured to the ground at him.

"I do it all the time," Scott replied, sounding breathless. "I mean once... in a lab. Then I passed out."

Lex looked from Steve to Bucky with raised eyebrows, an unimpressed look on her face. "Really?" Steve shook his head at her and they turned to look for the signal.

Within seconds, there was a rumbling and they saw Scott, except he was at least sixty feet tall.

"Whoa..." Lex murmured, her mouth slightly agape as she stared up at Scott. "That's something." Bucky also stared, it was hard not to as Scott grabbed War Machine and swung him away like he was rag doll.

"I guess that's the signal," Steve remarked, recovering from the shock first. They all glanced at each other quickly, before sprinting away across the tarmac for the Quinjet.

They sprinted as fast as they could, not looking back. Lex proved to be the faster over the ground, quickly moving to the front, her plait whipping out behind her like the tail of a big cat in full flight.

They were quickly approaching the open hangar, Lex had to be only 100m from the entrance when a shining beam of energy shot out from behind them and struck the control tower, causing it to collapse towards the entrance of the hangar.

"That ain't good," Lex exclaimed breathlessly, starting to slow down, as she was well ahead of the Bucky and Steve.

As the debris from the control tower fell, a red glow captured it, holding it up off the ground. Bucky glanced over his shoulder to see Wanda focusing her attention onto the tower.

"Keep going!" Steve shouted, and they picked up the pace.

They were just about under it when there was an ear splitting sound coming from behind them, Bucky saw Lex wince as the red glow disappeared, letting the crumbling tower fall all around them. They rolled, slid and dove out of the way of falling debris, avoiding any serious injury, although Lex lay on her back for a little longer than the boys, trying to catch her breath.

Bucky and Steve got to their feet, seeing Natasha standing between them and the Quinjet. They looked at her in anticipation, preparing for the worst.

"You're not gonna stop," Natasha murmured matter-of-factly, looking straight at Steve.

"You know I can't."

Lex groaned as she got to her feet, moving to stand next to Bucky. Natasha's eyes flicked towards her fellow former Black Widow.

"You live up to the hype," Natasha commented quietly, eyeing off the taller blonde.

"I try to please."

"This isn't your fight, you didn't need to do this," Natasha said, looking at Lex with a combination of awe and confusion.

"No, but I've been hiding from the fight for too long, I think," Lex replied, sounding almost a little sad. Bucky glanced sideways at her. There was no malevolent grin, no menacing look in her eyes, she looked resolute. "I'm where I need to be now. Besides, can't have anymore of us running around giving the rest of us a bad name," she joked, smiling again as she motioned to Bucky and herself.

Natasha looked at the female super soldier, before sighing. "I'm going to regret this." She raised an arm, her fist pointed towards Lex, who tensed in response to the threatening movement. Natasha fired a widow bite, the electric charged prongs flying past Lex and hitting a creeping Black Panther behind them, stunning him.

All three turned in surprise, before looking back to Natasha.

"Go."

Steve and Bucky made a run for the Quinjet without hesitation. Lex also made to move towards the Quinjet, but slowed next to Natasha, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're the only good thing to come out of The Red Room, Romanoff." Natasha responded with a grim smile. With that, Lex sprinted for the Quinjet as Natasha fired another widow bite at the Wakandan.


	9. I'll Be Damned

**Well, things are progressing nicely.**

 **So one of my favourite things about writing this chapter was the weapon handling drills in it, but the problem was trying to put it into words. Like, in my head and through muscle memory (ex-serving here...hi) I know exactly what I'm doing and the military lingo, but for the life of me I struggle to put it into civilian words hahaha** **.**

 **Many thanks to Neese96, Pensgirl87, basilbeast (yay Bucky trash!), doctor3378, TheNoPickleZone, 19vanelkc, guacamole lover and Alexcupcake for jumping on board for my little psycho's adventure :P**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **I'll Be Damned**

Steve flew the Quinjet towards snow capped mountains, Bucky sitting behind him with his back against one side of the jet's interior, while Lex sat across from him against the other, her stave resting on her lap, with an arm draped over it.

Bucky watched her as she looked around the Quinjet with interest. Of course, she wouldn't be used to anything like this, this kind of tech would have barely been thought of when she was a kid.

A kid. She didn't even have a chance to be a kid, did she? What could that have been like for her? He had his memories with Steve, from before the war, as hazy as they were these days. What did she have?

The silence amongst them was eating away at Bucky, so he finally asked what he was certain was on everyone's mind. "What's going to happen to your friends?"

Steve stared ahead, looking dejected, before he sighed and shook his head. "Whatever it is... I'll deal with it."

Bucky pursed his lips, feeling guilty as he imagined the persecution awaiting Steve's friends. He looked down at his hands. "I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve."

Steve craned his neck to glance at Bucky over his shoulder as he flew the jet. "What you did all those years... It wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."

"I know. But I did it."

He leaned back against the wall of the Quinjet, to find Lex was staring at him, a look of sympathy on her face.

Her deep brown eyes blinked and the corners of her lips upturned slightly as she gave him a sympathetic smile. "You're not a bad person, Bucky," Lex tried to comfort, looking awkwardly away. "The fact you're trying to make amends now, speaks volumes."

He looked at her gratefully, but he still questioned the validity of her point, as he looked back down at his hands, considering how he had come to this point.

When he looked back at Lex, she was staring at the floor dejectedly, appearing deep in thought, lines creasing her forehead as she seemed to be considering something painful to her.

"Hey." She looked up to meet his gaze. "You're not a bad person either, Lex."

She scoffed slightly, a small smile appearing on her lips, with the slightest touch of menace to it. "Oh, no, Bucky. I most definitely am. It's just a matter of keeping it in check from time to time." She cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows once, before winking at him.

He offered a quiet laugh at her personal joke, but shook his head. "No, you're not, I know it's all an act, every now and then you let it slip and I can see the real you."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows and a sceptical look on her features, her brown eyes seeming to tease him. "Oh, really? Well, I'll have to do something about that." She rolled her eyes at him, before turning her face and looking away, Bucky spotting the slightest of pink tinges to her cheek.

* * *

Steve banked the Quinjet, bringing it down to land beside a caterpillar truck on a very remote and icy mountain top.

They began moving around the Quinjet.

Lex strapped her stave to her back again as Bucky looked around the inside of the Quinjet. He noticed what appeared to be a locker or draw labelled 'Romanoff', reaching for it and pulling out a rack from the side of the fuselage. It contained rows of guns and rifles. He lifted a light machine gun from the rack, picking up a few extra magazines of ammunition and putting them into his pockets.

He looked to Lex as she put her fingerless gloves back onto her hands, considering her for a brief second, before grabbing a semi automatic rifle. "Hey." She turned to look at him and he threw it to her, she caught it in surprise and looked down at it with raised eyebrows. "Still remember how to use one of these?"

Steve stopped beside her to watch as Bucky held out a magazine of ammunition to her. She analysed the weapon in her hands for a moment, before taking the magazine from Bucky, sliding it into the magazine catch, before sliding the bolt mechanism backward easily, releasing it and letting it snap back to its original position, finally aiming it away from them, towards the back of the Quinjet.

Her eyes flicked back to look at Bucky. "Think I can work with it," she said with a smirk of satisfaction as both of the men appraised her. Bucky was thoroughly impressed, grinning brightly at her. She lowered the rifle as she turned to look at Bucky, cocking her head to one side. "I told you, you should smile more."

Bucky felt his cheeks heat slightly, as Steve looked at him with a pointed expression. "Yeah, Bucky." Bucky scowled and rolled his eyes, ignoring Steve's underlying innuendo.

Steve hit a button on the wall of the Quinjet, causing the rear of the jet to begin to lower slowly. Bucky, Steve and Lex stood together, waiting for the exit ramp to descend, in silence, the only sound coming from the hydraulics of the jet.

Steve leaned his head closer to Bucky. "You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?"

Bucky considered it for a moment. "Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" He recalled the moment as a teen in Brooklyn, when Steve was merely a boy of skin and bones.

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead."

Lex turned and leaned forward to look past Steve to Bucky. "Redhead? Really?" She grinned at Bucky teasingly.

Bucky gave a soft chuckle. "What was her name again?"

"Dolores." Steve looked to Lex, winking. "He called her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now," Bucky added with a slight laugh.

Lex laughed, and it was like being back in her apartment with her, joking around and laughing. Her laugh was always music to his ears, after not hearing laughter for so long. He looked past Steve at her as she grinned while looking down the ramp into the snowy landscape beyond.

Steve placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "So are we, pal." He looked over at Lex, who sighed and pursed her lips.

"Actually, I'm a hundred and twenty." She began walking down the ramp, rifle in hand. Bucky watched her for a moment, letting what she had just said sink in. When she got to the bottom she looked back up the ramp at them. "So you better respect your elders." She grinned mischievously and winked at them.

"Well, I'll be damned," Steve murmured, shaking his head slightly, before putting his helmet on.

* * *

Steve walked ahead of Bucky and Lex, toward the entrance of the bunker. It was set into the rock face, barely visible through the heavy snow.

Once they were close enough, they found the door open. "He can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve remarked, looking back at Lex and Bucky.

"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky warned, as Lex looked gravely into the dark bunker.

Steve led them into the bunker and they carefully crept into the depths of the base, taking a caged elevator further down until they were into the very bowels of the bunker. The grinding of the elevators gears breaking through the silence of the abandoned base as it lowered them down, putting them all on edge.

Steve looked to Lex and Bucky for affirmation, as Lex knelt down, training her rifle towards the door and Bucky nodded. Steve nodded back to Bucky in response, before heaving up the cage door easily, quick to take his shield from his back in case something was awaiting them.

It was silent.

Bucky led the way through the corridors, his light machine gun raised and trigger finger poised ready. Lex took the rear, maintaining a watchful eye behind them.

They walked along a corridor, keeping close to the wall as Bucky recalled his way through the bunker. It was all very familiar to him, but he couldn't dwell on the why. He had a job to do. He looked into an alcove full of junk, making sure there was no one waiting for them in there, before he and Steve began to move up some stairs.

As he traversed the first steps, there was a loud thud behind them, Bucky and Steve spun around while Lex froze, dropping to a knee and against the wall, her rifle aimed at a heavy door across the wide corridor from them.

Steve stepped to stand next to Lex, his shield held in front of him. "You ready?" he murmured.

"Yeah," Bucky and Lex replied quietly in unison. Bucky's heart was pounding in his chest as he watched the heavy metal doors where the noise had come from. There was a grinding sound, then the sound of metal on metal.

The double doors parted, forced open by Iron Man. Bucky saw Lex tense, her trigger finger moving to hover over the trigger guard of her rifle.

Bucky tensed as well, but waited to see if Tony would attack first, and if the others were with him.

There was silence as Steve stared in surprise at Iron Man. Tony held up his hands, slowly walking towards Steve, Lex and Bucky. He retracted the suits helmet, looking at them apologetically. "You guys seem a little defensive."

Bucky and Lex keep their weapons trained on Tony, as Steve cautiously walked to meet Tony with his shield up to cover them.

"It's been a long day."

Tony looked past Steve at Bucky and Lex, clearly taking note of their tense demeanour, looking slightly perturbed at them. "At ease, Soldiers. I'm not currently after you." Neither changed their stance or aim.

"Then why are you here?" Steve demanded, curiously.

Tony pressed his lips together for a split second, before he answered. "Could be, your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Secretary Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way." He looked pointedly at the three of them. "Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

Steve considered Tony for a moment, while Bucky and Lex maintained their positions, not taking their eyes off Tony. "Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve lowered his shield. "It's good to see you, Tony."

Tony let out a relieved sigh, before nodding. "You too, Cap." He looked behind Steve to Bucky and Lex again. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop..." he motioned at their weapons but neither removed their aim. Steve motioned for them to lower their weapons and they complied, albeit, Bucky noticed Lex hesitated and appeared less than impressed.

The four of them cautiously walked along a corridor, Bucky once again in the lead, Lex following up the rear. Tony explained what had been discovered after the fight at Leipzig, the real doctor being found murdered in his hotel and the delivery to the substation. It had all been carefully planned by one Helmut Zemo.

Bucky was careful to check every corner, alcove and doorway, to ensure that Zemo or the Death Squad didn't slip past them. He knew what the Death Squad was capable of, he needed to be ready.

"Guys," Lex murmured as Bucky slowed to take a corner. "Something doesn't seem right. It's way too quiet."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Tony asked dubiously, looking around through his helmet.

"Not from my experience," Lex replied. "He's been here awhile now, where are these soldiers? I expected to be knee deep in trouble by now."

"Bucky?" Steve asked after considering what Lex had brought up.

"I don't know, maybe they're waiting in there for us."

Tony stepped up beside Bucky. "Let me go first, I can scan for heat signatures."

Bucky looked sideways at Tony, before looking over his shoulder at Steve. He nodded to Bucky, answering his silent question. "Fine."

Tony continued forward, scanning the corridors and rooms as they walked further into the bunker.

Eventually, they came to a long corridor that had no windows or doors and led to large, steel, double doors. Bucky recognised them vaguely, memories trying to push their way out of the haze of his mind.

"I got heat signatures," Tony announced, stopping before the door.

"How many?" Steve asked, stopping beside him.

Tony was quiet for a moment. "Uh, one." The surprise was evident in his voice, as Bucky and Lex glanced at each other in confusion.

Bucky and Steve worked to open the doors, pushing the heavy doors wide. As they entered the vast chamber, the lights flickered on, Lex and Bucky sweeping the chamber and the capsules inside them with their weapons.

Hazy, yellow mist descended within the capsules, swirling about inside. Bucky looked carefully into one of the capsules, recognising the occupant as Josef through the swirling mist. As well as Josef, each one contained an enhanced soldier from the 1991 experiment. Steve and Tony looked around in bewilderment, stunned at the gravity of the situation.

Bucky saw Lex appear at his side, glancing sideways at her. He was stunned to see she didn't look bewildered, or scared. She looked curious.

Of course she might be curious though. This was the life she was supposed to live.

As he stared at her, he noticed her narrowing her eyes and peering closely into the nearest capsule, containing Josef. "Um... fellas. We've got a problem."

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," Zemo said over the loud speaker, his voice resonating throughout the chamber.

Bucky looked into the chamber again, seeing what Lex had seen. As the mist cleared slightly, he saw a bullet wound in his head. Bucky stared at Josef's corpse. "Did you really think I wanted more of you? It is bad enough it turns out there are two of you alive."

Bucky's eyes went wide as he looked at all of the other capsules, all of the enhanced soldiers had bullet wounds. "What the hell?"

Bucky was confused for a moment, as he backed towards Lex. What was the point of bringing them there then? If it wasn't to bring the Death Squad back into circulation, then what did the doctor want with them? He was on edge now, checking every corner, gangway and alcove for possible threats. Could it have been a trap to take him back into HYDRA custody? Or was it Lex that they wanted? Or worse still...both of them?

"It was a trap, the whole bloody thing," Lex growled, she looked around the room before aiming her rifle towards a small porthole window in the wall at the control room.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here." Zemo appeared in porthole of the control room, smiling grimly at them.

Steve hurled his shield at the window but it bounced back, leaving neither a scratch nor dent. "Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," Tony mused, stepping forward.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

Bucky stared at the doctor. His brain was still trying to calculate why they could have been brought there. What had the doctor asked him in Berlin? He searched his memory, continually failing to bring anything useful up.

Lex moved to stand beside him again, looking at him with slight concern. "Bucky...?"

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked as he moved to stand directly in front of the porthole. He looked at Zemo through the glass.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year," Zemo sneered menacingly. "I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized... there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

Steve was silent for a moment, staring at Zemo. "You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"

Bucky frowned. The Sokovian conflict, it had happened not long after he had gone on the run from HYDRA and Steve. He was confused as to what it had to do with him.

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

Steve narrowed his eyes, studying Zemo. "You lost someone?"

Zemo looked gravely at Steve, before speaking again. "I lost everyone. And so will you." Nearby, a video begins to play on a screen near the porthole window. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead... forever."

Tony, Steve and Lex moved to look at the screen. "I know that road. What is this?" Tony queried, looking back to the porthole, but Zemo was gone.

Bucky heard the familiar sound of a motorbike travelling at high speed. Suddenly, he didn't need to know what this was about anymore.

* * *

 **Okay, fun fact...**

 **I don't usually write names for chapters on any of my fics (go look at my others and you'll see) but some numpty had a wah wah over it in another fic (insert eye roll here) and so I thought I'll see what the hype is...**

 **Hate it**

 **But I also started like this, so I got to keep going now, and in case you haven't figured it out, I'm basically just pulling random words or phrases from the chapter to use as the heading hahaha**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	10. The End?

**Thanks to blueteddybear3, akana45, Mikky96, eclispex.x and QueenKas for joining the party right at the good part lol**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **The End...?**

Bucky's blood ran cold as he heard the video play along. He looked away, remembering the mission in detail. Howard Stark, begging for someone to help his wife, before recognising him and calling him by his rank and last name. His bloodied face with the look of disbelief and horror etched across it, struggling in his hand, before he finished him off with a single blow. The sound played back in his head.

Maria Stark, calling out her husband's name in horror, crying and sobbing, before he ended her life too, it had been very simple, a basic twist of his wrist. He continued to stare at the ground, his head beginning to hurt as their bloodied and lifeless faces played over in his mind.

It took him a moment to realise that Lex had backed her way over to him, not taking her eyes off of Tony Stark.

Steve also watched Tony anxiously, as a gunshot rang out in the video.

Tony lunged towards Bucky, but Steve was quick to stop him, holding him back. "Tony. Tony," he tried to calm him.

Tony glared at Bucky, consumed in grief and tears glistening in his eyes. He turned to look at Steve. "Did you know?"

Steve looked sympathetically at Tony. "I didn't know it was him."

"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?"

Lex looked over her shoulder at Bucky. "Average men can do diabolical things when grieving," she whispered pointedly. Bucky furrowed his brow at, glancing at her, unclear as to what it was she was trying to say. "I would get out of here, if I were you."

Bucky looked back to Steve and Tony, unable to bring himself to move. Whatever happened next, it would be nothing less than he deserved.

Steve looked apologetic now, sighing before he answered. "Yes."

Tony stepped back, his face full of pain, as he twitched slightly, moving his head as if he was suddenly uncomfortable in his suit.

Bucky noted that Lex now moved to stand in front of him protectively. He went to move her out of the way with his arm when suddenly, Tony reengaged the Iron Man helmet over his face, before punching Steve into the floor.

Lex opened fire at him, but he easily deflected the bullets, swinging his arm at her. She used her rifle to block his arm, only for him to kick at her and knock her backwards off of her feet.

Bucky opened fire then, but Iron Man ignored the bullets, grabbing Bucky and flying across the chamber. He slammed Bucky onto the floor, before jumping onto his arms, he aimed one of his hand thrusters at Bucky's face.

Steve's shield hit Iron Man, distracting him long enough for Lex to tackle him away. Iron man shouldered her off of him, throwing her across the room. Steve charged him next, and Iron Man managed to floor him, before engaging a magnetic shackle around his ankles. He went to fire the same at Lex, but she had pulled her stave from her back, using it to hit away the magnetic shackle. The shackle engaged on the stave and she quickly threw it away, as she ran towards Iron Man again. She punched and kicked at him, dodging his counter attacks easily, before he tried to grab at her with both arms. She grabbed both his arms by his wrists, holding them wide from her. Bucky could see she was struggling to hold Iron Man's strength at bay, as he struggled to his feet.

Iron man turned his palms inwards, firing his thrusters and creating a blast that knocked both he and Lex away, Lex skidding along the floor for several metres.

Bucky got to his feet, moving to punch Iron Man, but he easily lifted him into the air and slammed him against a machine. Iron Man raised a hand to fire his thruster at him again, but Bucky was able to grab it, twisting and crushing it, causing it to malfunction.

A rocket shot out of Iron Man's arm causing an explosion that caused a towering structure of pipe works behind Bucky and Tony to begin to collapse. Lex, who was close by was quick to dive out of the way, as Steve finally smashed the lock on his shackles with his shield. Iron Man and Bucky were thrown down a level as twisted metal fell around them, showering them in sparks and debris.

Steve skidded to a stop in front of Bucky, looking back as he tried to get back up to his feet "Get out of here!" Bucky looked back at Steve for a moment, considering whether he should try and escape.

"Move!" Lex shouted, shoving him aside and ducking as Iron Man fired, the round hitting the wall of the chamber harmlessly. Bucky turned and ran.

Steve ran and jumped, landing in front of Iron Man and launching into a flurry of kicks and punching between them, while Bucky hit a control panel, triggering the silo-styled doors above to start to open.

Lex joined Steve as they tried to subdue Iron Man, ducking, weaving and trying to dodge Iron Man's artillery. "It wasn't him, Tony. HYDRA had control of his mind!" Steve shouted as Lex rolled out of the way as Iron Man tried to fire at her. He looked up to shoot at Bucky again as he climbed up the gangways towards the top of the silo, but Steve moved to stand in front of him. "Move!"

"It wasn't him!" Steve grabbed Iron Man's ankle in mid air as he tried to fly by him, smashing the thrusters with his shield. Iron Man shot at rubble overhead, causing it to fall on top of Steve, taking the opportunity to free himself from him, trying to continue up towards the top of the silo and Bucky. His thruster failed several times, slowing down his progress and Lex took the opportunity to try and get above him.

She scaled the gangways nimbly, leaping and swinging from platform to platform as Bucky did the same higher above her.

With stuttering jets, Iron Man continued to try and give chase, eventually reaching him. Bucky tried to fight him off, but Iron Man landed a kick to his chest, sending him flying back into the opposite wall of the silo. Bucky landed in a heap on the platform, struggling back to his feet.

"Lex!" Steve shouted to the female super soldier.

Iron Man took aim, but the energy bolt he fired rebounded off of Steve's shield and onto himself as Lex landed in front of Bucky with the shield in front of her, having caught it after Steve saw she was going to be able to make it to Bucky before he could.

Iron Man dropped like a stone and landed heavily on a lower platform, as Lex looked back up at Bucky and Steve clambered up onto the platform. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks," Bucky said, grimacing. Lex handed Steve back his shield and they looked over the edge of the platform they were standing on as Iron Man scrambled to his feet.

"He's not going to stop." Steve turned back to look at Bucky and Lex. "Go."

"I'll stay and help stop Tony," Lex objected, moving to jump back over the edge, but Bucky grabbed her arm roughly.

"No, it's not your fight," Bucky argued. There was no way he was letting her stay there and risk getting injured on his account, when she'd already become involved because of him. She looked at him icily, pulling her arm away.

"Bucky's right, it's not your fight, go with Bucky, keep him safe," Steve ordered, pulling her back by her shoulder gently. "He's going to need the help."

Lex looked annoyed at being told what to do, looking between the two men, but huffed, turning and beginning to climb again, Bucky following her.

Iron Man began to fly up towards them again, his left boot thruster still struggling to maintain power. Steve was quick to leap down towards him, shooting a wire from his wrist. It wrapped around Iron Man's neck and dragging him back down several platforms.

Bucky and Lex continued to climb, glancing back every now and then. Bucky was concerned for his friend.

Iron man managed to loosen himself from Steve's wire rope, letting Steve fall the rest of the way down while he continued to fly up towards them. He set down on a platform as his faulty thruster was struggling to get him higher up the silo.

Steve hurled his shield towards Iron Man from the ground but he easily deflected it away. Lex was already at the top of the silo and looked back down, seeing Iron Man aiming for them.

"Bucky, MOVE!" she shouted urgently.

Iron Man raised his right hand, a small rocket appearing from his suit as he tried to take aim.

Bucky reached the top, but didn't stop to look back down as Lex urged him to start climbing out of the silo.

Tony retracted the helmet, taking aim without the help of his helmet's automatic aiming system, closing one eye, as Lex moved to stand between Tony and Bucky. Bucky caught the movement in the corner of his eye. "Lex..." he warned, turning to try and grab her.

Tony diverted his aim at the last minute, aiming for the hinge of the silo hatch instead. There was a huge explosion, the hatch beginning to fall.

"Bucky!" Lex gasped, turning quickly and reefing Bucky backwards. She threw him over the edge of the platform as the huge metal hatch fell, causing the concrete silo to implode in on itself under the sheer weight of it.

Bucky landed on one of the platforms halfway up the silo. He heard Lex scream in pain as he fell heavily onto a lower platform. He looked back up, unable to see Lex through the falling rubble.

* * *

He didn't have a chance to try and find Lex, as Iron Man flew up towards him with great speed. Bucky reached for a metal pipe that had fallen within arm's reach, swinging it at Iron Man.

Iron man blocked his first swing, before dodging his second and grabbing him around the neck from behind. He began to squeeze and Bucky felt his airways starting to close under the pressure. "Do you even remember them?" Tony demanded coldly.

Bucky struggled to pull Tony's hand away from his throat, his titanium arm whirring as the hydraulics tried to push back. "I remember all of them," he muttered, before throwing himself backwards.

They fell from the platform, Bucky holding tightly to Iron Man to ensure he didn't break free from the fall, bracing himself for the impact. Before they could hit the concrete floor of the silo, Steve jumped into them, deflecting their fall. Bucky released Iron Man, landing heavily on a platform just above ground level, while Iron Man and Steve continued to fall to the ground, rolling down into one of the venting chambers that led to the outside. Snow drifts lined the concrete and cold air blew inside.

* * *

Steve slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, as did Tony. "This isn't gonna change what happened."

"I don't care. He killed my mom."

They began to trade punches, blow by blow, until eventually Iron Man was able to pin Steve down on the ground. Bucky, having come to after being momentarily knocked out, hurried towards the vent shaft, picking up Captain America's discarded shield and leaping down to help.

Steve and Bucky began to team up, two super soldiers trading blows with Iron Man, the shield changing hands between them several times as they bounced it off the floor, the wall and Iron Man.

Finally, Iron Man managed to gain the upper hand, blasting Steve into the far wall. Bucky continued to try and dodge Iron Man's attacks, ducking beneath a punch, before stepping sideways to avoid another blast from Iron Man's hand thruster.

He turned quickly, shoving Iron Man roughly to back him into a wall, pinning him against it. He reached down to grip at the glowing core in the chest of the Iron Man suit with his titanium hand. Bucky knew that if he could destroy the arc reactor core in the suit, he could shut it down, preventing anymore fighting and give them a chance to escape.

He dug his fingers into the outer edges of the energy core, feeling it beginning to splinter in his hand as he squeezed. "Aaarrgghhhh," he screamed in frustration as he strained to destroy it with his titanium hand.

A blast of energy shot out from the arc reactor, knocking Bucky to the ground. His head was hazy, his eyes struggling to clear from the extreme blast of light that had engulfed him and his ears rang, but something felt wrong as he knelt on the ground. He felt strangely light on one side of his body.

As his eyes cleared he looked down his left side, his titanium arm had been completely blown away, only the shoulder left attached, the circuits and hydraulics exposed. He fell backwards, his head beginning to swim.

Iron Man moved to fire at him again, but Steve rushed towards him with his shield up and Iron Man's beam of energy fired right at it, causing sparks to spray at all angles. Iron Man stepped back as Steve tried to knock him back with his shield, before kicking the shield from Steve's hands, but Steve still ran forward, a flurry of punches greeting him.

Steve continued with his barrage of punches, not allowing Iron Man a chance to counter or block, eventually backing Iron Man back against the wall again, as Bucky had.

Finally, he caught one of Steve's punches with his hand. Steve looked stunned, and Iron Man took the opportunity to shove him away, before raising his arm and aiming his thruster at him, firing a beam straight at his chest.

Steve tumbled away, struggling back to his feet slowly, as Iron Man strode over, determined to put an end to the fight. Steve moved to attack Iron Man again, but he blocked him yet again, shooting him with another beam of energy that knocked him down beside Bucky.

Bucky tried to roll to his side, but his body refused to move more than a few centimetres, it was going into shock.

Steve rose to his knees, moving between Bucky and Iron Man defensively. "He's my friend."

Iron man stood still for a moment, just looking down at Steve. "So was I." He punched Steve again, before throwing him towards the snow drifts and he landed heavily against one of the concrete pylons, before tumbling to the ground. "Stay down. Final warning."

Bucky watched as his friend struggled back to his feet, his face bloodied, his body weary, but his fists raised in front of him, as he glared back at Iron Man. "I can do this all day."

As Iron Man raised his left hand to fire at Steve, Bucky summoned up all his remaining strength and grabbed Iron Man's leg, holding it tightly.

Iron Man turned, kicking at Bucky in disgust, landing a blow to his face. He raised his hand again, moving to blast Bucky with a hand cannon and Bucky stared up at him waiting for him to fire. Steve moved to stand and grab Iron Man, but his knee gave way.

From the darkness of the main chamber, Lex appeared, charging back into the fight.

"Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh!" She hit Iron Man with the full force of her body, knocking him from his feet and onto the ground. She landed on him, pinning him to the ground with a knee to his throat, throwing fists to his head with great speed. The face plate of his helmet began to crack under the power of her punches, as every punch connected with her target.

Bucky rolled to his side, staring at her as she continued to assault Iron Man, her face contorted with rage, her eyes appearing black.

Iron Man finally recovered from the initial shock of Lex's assault and fired the arc reactor in his chest piece again, the blast hitting Lex and knocking her away from him. Lex was sent sprawling into one of the pylons, screaming in agony as her back slammed awkwardly against the corner of the concrete.

Steve took the chance before Tony could recover from Lex's attack, grabbing Iron Man, lifting him over his head and then throwing him onto his back on the ground roughly, before pinning him there, punching him over and over.

He continued the barrage of punches until he managed to knock off the already broken Iron Man helmet, exposing Tony's face.

In a rage, he reached for the discarded shield to his right, raising it high above his head. Tony, fearing for his life, raised his hands to his face in an effort to protect himself. Steve plunged the shield down, cracking through the outer protective casing of the arc reactor core in the Iron Man suit. The suit powered down, as the light in the arc reactor dimmed and disappeared.

Tony, bloodied and battered, looked from the shield up to Steve's face, horrified and angry.

Steve stared down regretfully at Tony, breathless at the effort of maintaining battle for so long. He sighed, shutting his eyes and slumped his shoulders, before moving to stand up. Steve struggled to his feet, taking hold of the shield still stuck into the chest piece of the Iron Man suit, gripping the edge and pulling it free. He walked away from Tony.

Bucky glanced over at Lex, she was sat leaning against the pylon where she'd landed, her face was also bloodied and dirty, her hair messy and she was breathing heavily, holding her ribs. Her shoulder stuck out at an odd angle and she watched Tony sadly, as Steve walked away from him.

Steve walked to Lex first, stooping down to help her up carefully. She hissed with pain as he hoisted her to her feet, before they both moved to Bucky, Steve reaching out and pulling him to his feet using his remaining arm. Lex quickly moved to Bucky's other side to offer support.

Tony rolled to his side, grunting in pain as he did so.

They turned and began to leave the chamber. "That shield doesn't belong to you," Tony sneered angrily. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!"

Bucky and Lex glanced sideways at Steve. Bucky knew that must have hurt, Steve and Howard had been friends.

Steve, however, stopped walking, raised his chin slightly, before dropping the shield with a resounding bang that seemed to echo throughout the bunker. He continued to lead them away, leaving Tony alone.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	11. Broken

**Awww, you guys are awesome.**

 **I have to say, I never write to please other people these days (I'm too old to give a s**t to be honest haha), I write for my open pleasure, but you guys that have sent me reviews and what not have certainly made my days.**

 **I did get a message recently about whether or not the fic was going to continue on after Civil War...well, I just started writing drafts on what I'm calling Part 2 for the moment. So yes, it's going to keep going for a little while anyway. Don't worry, I'm keeping it all in one place and not making a separate fic out of it (I'm too lazy for that)**

 **Many thanks to 19vanelkc (cracked me up, man), FutureOlympian, and Kimberley for the reviews**

 **Thanks also to FutureOlympian, AnimeFreak71777, Toons230, Gilded Dragon, mochadeer, , Nazuki Hanae, and JohnnyStormsGirl for tagging along on the adventure.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Broken**

Steve supported Bucky as they slowly made their way out of the bunker.

Lex was on his other side, doing what she could to support him as well, but he could see she was in a lot of pain as she tried to walk along with them. Blood was running down the side of her head, her face was grazed and scratched, her left shoulder was jutting out at an odd angle. Her usually olive skin, seemed to pale under all the dirt and blood.

"We've got to get out of here, fast," Steve murmured as he hurried along.

"Where are we going to go?" Lex asked breathlessly, reminding them that they were still fugitives. Steve sighed as they continued out into the frigid, cold air outside the bunker. Snow had begun to fall from the sky again. The already deep snow made it hard for them to move quickly, and the temperatures were dropping dramatically as night began to approach.

They were only a hundred metres away from the Quinjet when Bucky felt Lex's grip on him slacken. He looked to his side as she began to fall to her knees. "Lex!"

Steve stopped, trying to catch Lex with his spare hand while still holding Bucky, but Lex's knees hit the snow and she began to fall back as she lost consciousness.

Steve and Bucky both scrambled to Lex, Steve feeling for a pulse while Bucky tried to rouse her, touching her cheek and gripping tightly to her shoulder. He found moisture there as he squeezed. Confused, he pulled his hand away to find it covered in blood. "Steve..."

Steve looked at Bucky's hand, before pulling Lex forward to look at the back of her shoulder, there was a deep wound there, it looked like she may have been impaled by something. "We've got to get her to a medical facility, she's losing a lot of blood."

"Where are we going to go?" Bucky demanded as Steve moved her onto her side. "Wherever we go we're wanted men, and so is she by association now." Bucky felt his anger and frustration rising. Steve was silent, as he continued to try and render aid to Lex.

The silence between them was broken by the crunching sound of snow under foot behind them. Steve was quick to his feet, spinning around with his fists raised, while Bucky moved to his knees, shifting closer to Lex.

The Black Panther stood before them, his hands raised up before him, showing he was unarmed and meant no harm. "Perhaps I can help?"

Steve and Bucky glanced sideways at each other, before Steve narrowed his eyes at T'challa suspiciously. "You want to help us? A couple of hours ago you were wanting to kill us," Steve said coldly.

"I wanted to kill him," he said motioning towards Bucky before continuing. "However, I have since found the truth and captured the man responsible for the murder of my father," T'challa answered, reaching up and removing his helmet. "We are all victims of a troubled man, I would like to make amends for my slights."

Steve hesitated for a moment, before lowering his hands. Bucky saw T'challa look from Steve to Lex.

"She's been injured," Bucky explained, putting his hand on her neck, trying to feel for a pulse. "Pulse is weak."

T'challa and Steve hurried back to Lex's side, T'challa checking her over himself. "We can take her back to Wakanda, my doctors can help her."

"We need to make sure she will make it there, first," Bucky murmured as T'challa rolled her onto her back again.

"I have the necessary medical equipment on my jet," T'challa replied, sliding his hands beneath her body before hoisting her up and into his arms. "Come." Steve reached down, helping Bucky up and they both hurriedly followed T'challa to his jet.

* * *

Bucky wasn't even sure when it was they had arrived in Wakanda, nor did he know how long it had taken.

His whole focus had been on Lex as she lay inside the pressurised medical chamber. He stood and moved to follow it as the Wakandan medical facility doctors rushed towards them, as the Wakandan King barked orders at his people.

T'challa stopped Steve and Bucky as the doctors wheeled her away. "She is in the best hands, I will ensure you will be kept informed."

He then motioned to four tall women, dressed in colourful and embellished armour, walked onto the ship, their shaved heads giving off an intimidating presence, if their sharp looking spears weren't enough. They moved towards Helmut Zemo, who was subdued in the corner of the ship, hoisting him to his feet roughly and pushing him to stand between the four of them.

He was led him from the jet, his expression was set into a grim and menacing smile as he fixed his gaze on Bucky. Bucky felt the urge to grasp Zemo around the neck, suddenly lunging for the Sokovian.

"Whoa, Buck," Steve warned, quickly grabbing him, as T'challa moved between Bucky and the escort. "Leave it to the authorities now." Bucky glared at the smiling Zemo as the Wakandan guards took him away to another waiting aircraft.

"He is being delivered to Everett Ross, and an in depth explanation as to how he was discovered and captured," T'challa explained, motioning for them to follow him into the medical facility.

"Detailed?" Steve pressed pointedly.

"Mostly." T'challa grinned, before looking between them both. "My doctors will see to your wounds too, by then, perhaps Alexia will be out of surgery."

"Lex," Bucky corrected the Wakandan automatically, the King's gaze shifting to look at him with raised eyebrows. "She doesn't like being called Alexia." T'challa smiled apologetically before motioning to a medical room. As they entered, two doctors and some nurses stepped forward to treat them.

* * *

Bucky sat on a lounge outside the room they were keeping Lex in. His wounds had mostly been superficial, a few needing stitches but most just needing to be cleaned up. Right now, his destroyed arm was the main problem. T'challa said he had someone in mind to try and remove the broken cybernetic prosthetic and was sending for them.

Lex was out of surgery, but had yet to regain consciousness. She had suffered contusions to a lot of her body, apparently being caught in the explosion and following collapse of the silo. The doctors were slightly concerned about some damage to her spine, apparently it appeared some of her spinal column had been fractured. She had also had most of her ribs broken, and fractures along her arms and legs, but they weren't sure whether the serum would have any effect on the healing process of her injuries. To aid in their research, Bucky had offered up his blood to compare to hers, hoping that it might offer answers as to whether her recovery would be similar to his own abilities.

He leaned back, resting his head against the wall, as he thought about what he had put Lex through. He recalled their first meeting in their apartment building and her bubbly nature from the beginning. It made him smile.

"Ah, James?" T'challa called, appearing around the corner.

Bucky looked up, furrowing his brow at being addressed by his first name, it was an unfamiliar sound.

T'challa was walking with someone else. She was much shorter than him and apparently much younger. She appeared to be only a teen, an inquisitive look on her face as she looked at him, and wearing a casual shirt and jeans. It was a vast contrast to the Wakandan King next to her.

They stopped in front of him as he stood up slowly. Due to his partially missing cybernetic prosthetic, he felt off-balanced often, it was taking some getting used to moving around.

"This is my sister, Shuri, the head developer at the Wakanda Design Group. She will assist with the removal of that," T'challa explained, motioning to his left shoulder. Bucky glanced sideways at his destroyed titanium arm. He considered it for a moment, trying to move it even a little. There was no movement in response, but a slight spark.

The girl frowned and balked slightly. "Oh yeah, that's going to have to come off," Shuri scoffed. "What ancient technology is that?"

She moved to look closer at it. "World War two," Bucky murmured in response.

Shuri's eyebrows raised and she gawked at him for a moment. "You're joking, right?" Bucky didn't answer her, blinking instead. "Whoa..." she looked to her brother for confirmation, but he ignored her questioning look.

"Can you do it, Shuri?" T'challa demanded of his sister.

"Yeah, I mean, it might just take awhile, I need to figure out how they did it and work backwards."

T'challa nodded. "James, if you could go with Shuri sh-"

"I would rather wait for Lex to wake up," Bucky interrupted. Shuri raised her eyebrows, before looking through the window into the hospital room curiously.

"I must insist, James, you are rather dangerous to my staff with those wires exposed," T'challa replied, looking apologetic.

"It's alright, Buck," Steve said, appearing down the corridor. Bucky looked expectantly at Steve. "I'll stay with her and call you if she comes to."

Bucky hesitated, considering Steve for a moment and thinking about Lex lying in her hospital bed in a strange place. It was only when his shoulder emitted sparks again when Shuri touched it out of curiosity did he finally agree to go with her.

* * *

Bucky sat on a gurney as Shuri used some type of scanner on his shoulder. She scanned from where his flesh and the titanium met, all the way down and under his arm.

"I must say, for 1945, this is some pretty advanced technology," she murmured, furrowing her brow as she looked at the screen in her hand. She glanced sideways at him. "What happened to your real arm?"

Bucky sighed. "I don't know. The last thing I remember before waking up on a table with doctors working on me and a metal arm is being on the mission to catch Arnim Zola, the head scientist for HYDRA. It was an ambush and I ended up thrown from the train and down a cliff."

The painful memory flashed through his head, causing him to clench his fist.

Shuri jumped back slightly as his arm sparked again. "Okay, let's not talk about that again until AFTER I get this off of you."

He looked apologetic as she stepped forward and continued scanning it. Shuri glanced up at his face through her lashes, narrowing her eyes. "So it's true, you're actually one hundred years old? And Captain America too?"

Bucky nodded. "Yeah. We're old men."

"Damn, what did they use on you guys?" Bucky didn't say anything as she put down the scanner and pulled out some tools. She touched the loose wires here and there, narrowing her eyes whenever a spark would flare. "So, you were a good guy and they turned you into a bad guy? How?" Bucky grimaced. Shuri was terribly inquisitive.

He sighed. "There's these words, they can say them in the right order and it triggers something in my head. I'll become completely complicit, I'll do whatever I'm ordered to do."

Shuri stared at him in awe. "What?" He found her gaze unnerving and looked to the ground. He was a monster. "So it's cerebral programming? Fascinating. Do you know when it's happening?" He nodded. "Man, that's terrible. Is that what happened in Berlin?"

He was silent again, as he began to remember all that he'd done. He was dangerous, if anyone was to find the journal with the instructions, he was putting many more people at risk too. "I need to be put away."

"What?" Shuri asked, stopping what she was doing and looking at him in confusion. "Put away? What, like jail?"

"No, that won't hold me if someone activates the programming," he replied grimly. "Bury me, freeze me, anything, anywhere, where no one can find me."

Shuri pressed her lips together and looked sympathetic. She patted him on his other arm in what he supposed was to cheer him up, before continuing to analyse his shoulder. "And the girl?" Bucky looked at her expectantly. "The one you were waiting to wake up? Who is she?"

He considered her question for a moment. "A friend."

"Yeah?" He couldn't help but note the tone of scepticism in her voice. She gave a light laugh before putting down her tools. "If you say so. Is she like you?"

"No, she's more like Steve. Her mind is her own to control."

Shuri nodded and considered Bucky for a moment, folding her arms across her chest and looking thoughtful. "Well, I can look into cerebral programming, see if we can't get some of that brainwashing out of you."

Bucky shrugged. He didn't like her chances of getting it out of him. It had already been over seventy years, what was this teen ever going to achieve.

"Okay, I think I know what to do about this thing," she said firmly, motioning to his shoulder, smiling. She set to work, calling in a doctor and moving him into a lab to start work on removing his titanium arm.

After an hour and a half of work by Shuri and the doctor, Bucky's arm was removed and a temporary prosthetic shoulder added to help keep him balanced again.

Shuri took him back to the medical facility, continuing to question him about his mental conditioning and programming.

He was relieved to be back at the medical facility, finding Steve standing at the door. "Hey, Buddy," Steve greeted him, looking at his left shoulder. "How do you feel?"

"A little to the right," Bucky joked.

Steve grinned, patting him on the shoulder. Bucky looked past him, through the door. Lex lay on the bed still, tubes in her arms and hooked up to machines inside the room. He grimaced.

"She hasn't made a move yet, doctors are saying her brain activity is off the charts though."

"So she's going to pull through, right?"

Steve looked apologetic and sighed sadly. "They can't tell us."

Bucky sighed again, staring into the room. "Are we allowed in?"

"Yeah, I've already been in." He grabbed the handle to the door and pushed it open, walking in and moving to stand beside the bed, letting Steve shut the door behind them.

Bucky looked down, at Lex. Her eyes were closed, although there seemed to be a pained expression on her face. Her arms lay lifelessly by her sides, her blonde hair flowing down the side of her face where the nurses had placed it after cutting off her hair ties to access her head injuries.

He reached out and touched her hand, it was warm. Of course, from his own experience, that didn't mean much for them. Their bodies always ran hotter with the serum in their veins. He had never touched her skin directly before, it was smooth and soft, strange, when you consider how hard she could hit.

Bucky considered his conversation with Shuri at the lab, thinking about what options they now had. They were all fugitives, him more than anyone else. Shuri had given him an option, but he wasn't sure what Lex could do, if she even woke up. "So what are you going to do now?" Bucky asked, looking up at Steve as he withdrew his hand from Lex.

Steve stood on the other side of the bed, and looked seriously at Bucky. He sighed, shrugging. "I don't know."

"What about your friends?"

"Well, there's that, I'll have to get them out, but once that's done, I'll think of something for us," Steve assured him.

Bucky was quick to shake his head. "No, I'm staying here."

Steve furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I spoke to T'challa's sister, Shuri, she can put me back into a freezer, then she's going to find a way to undo everything they put in my head, make me relatively sane again."

Steve looked stunned, and mildly hurt. Bucky understood his feelings. It had taken seventy years to be finally reunited, and now he was willingly going under again. It wasn't the easiest decision to make, but he knew it was the safest.

Steve finally recovered, speaking quietly. "You sure?"

Bucky nodded, glancing back down at Lex, before looking straight back at Steve. "It's for the best."

Steve sighed and looked down at Lex, grimacing. "I'll have to take some pointers from Lex about laying low, for awhile."

"Well, she is an expert at it," Bucky commented, as they both looked at her. He reached out to move a stray hair from her face, his index finger just brushing her face as he moved the strand away.

In an instant, her hand had grabbed his roughly and squeezed, holding it away from her, her eyes wide in alarm.

* * *

 **It might be awhile until the next updates come through, its going to get difficult to write in the next few pieces of fic so they all marry up nicely through the transition.**

 **I shall return!**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	12. History

***TRIGGER WARNING* This shit gets pretty dark, I think...**

 **ANYWAY...**

 **So, I was just a bit bored one day, and did some random research...**

 **Sooo... I named my character 'Lex' in honour of one of our huskies, whose name is Lexus, but thinking that's a horrible name for a kick ass female character, I had to come up with a more feminine name, so gave her the name Alexia. Upon doing said research the other night, I found out that the name Alexia means 'Defender of men.'**

 **Da Da DA!**

 **EDIT 15/05/2018 - Sorry kids! I was on the phone when I was editing and cleaning this chapter up so forgot my thank yous, and this morning, after some writing and editing, it dawned on me that I've actually stuffed up her timeline, which I need clear cut for the continuation of the fic, so I'm going back in to edit it! Cheers guys**

 **Thank you to Cal-Kitty, Jadeamelia, lykaioski, AliceCullen3, Jordanden, BaritoneMufasa, ingisned, A1m0st1sN3v3rEn0ugh, Ryuzuki Junrei, Tick Tock Follow the Clock, langdonlexis, rockobrocko, PeriAce, thenumbertwentyseven, and laraliz16 for following/favouriting**

 **And also thanks to all the reviews I've gotten!**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **History**

"Whoa!" Steve exclaimed, grabbing at her shoulders quickly as she moved to sit up. "Calm down, you're safe."

"Lex, it's alright, it's us!" Bucky felt her hand squeezing his, with pain starting to shoot up his arm. "Take it easy!"

It took some effort, but Steve held her to the bed until her awareness kicked in and she realised she was safe. She laid back and breathed, easing her grip on Bucky's hand, but not letting go.

"What the hell, guys, what happened?"

Steve glanced at Bucky with concern, which Bucky reciprocated. "How much do you remember?" he asked, looking back down at her.

She pulled a face, looking between the two, licking her bottom lip before wincing as she touched the stitches. "Uh... an explosion and then the silo coming down around me."

Steve and Bucky both furrowed their brows and looked at her critically. "Are you sure?" Steve pressed, concerned creases forming on his face, as he moved to stand next to Bucky.

Lex's face changed to one of concern then, and he felt her grip on his hand tighten slightly. "Yes... am I missing something?"

Bucky chewed the inside of his cheek. She'd lost at least a whole hour of memory. He looked down at his hand that she still held in hers. She followed his gaze, quickly releasing his hand when she saw her hold on it, looking apologetic as he twisted it slightly to relax the muscles.

"I'll get a doctor," Steve murmured, before hurrying out into the hallway.

Bucky looked at Lex as she started to sit upright, her face etched with concern, occasionally twitching as if she was trying to remember what had happened. "How are you feeling?"

She glanced up at him, considering his question before looking down at her arms and legs. She noticed the heavy bandages around her shoulder, as well as the stitches here and there on her arms and legs. She touched her face, running her fingers along the long row of stitches that spread down the side of her face from her ear.

"Well, no modelling career for me, it seems," she joked finally, putting her hands down onto the bed and trying to push herself up into a more comfortable position. Bucky went to reach for her with his left hand, before remembering he no longer had use of one. He helped hoist her up with his right, letting her resettle more comfortably.

She looked to his left shoulder, a concerned look appearing on her features. "What happened to your arm?"

He smiled grimly. "Refurbishing," he answered jokingly, rather than giving the honest answer. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to tell her what really happened right now.

Whatever the case, she looked at him sceptically, but didn't ask anymore, instead, looking past him to the door as Steve walked in with a doctor, Shuri and T'challa. She quickly tensed and her eyes narrowed warily, as she shrank back into the pillows when T'challa approached her bed.

"You may relax, Miss Nikulkin, it would appear we are on the same side, now," T'challa greeted, slowing as he moved closer to the bed, his hands raised in a submissive gesture. Lex glanced from T'challa, to Steve and then back to Bucky, who nodded at her, conveying she was safe.

She sat back up slightly, taking in T'challa and Shuri for a moment. "It's Lex, just Lex." She looked at Bucky and Steve. "No, seriously, what did I miss?"

* * *

After explaining where they were and how they'd come to be there, Shuri and a doctor examined Lex, taking her for further brain scans and x-rays. They found that the fractures in her spine had already healed over, and some of the fractures in her arms and legs had also healed. Her ribs were still broken though, which made moving for her quite difficult.

After they did some brain scans, Shuri hurried into the room where they were waiting to hear on the results.

"You guys, check this out." She moved some beads on her wrist, bringing up Lex's brain scan as a hologram. "This is Alexia's brain on the left, on the right, is mine." Another scan appeared. The two were similar, except for what reminded Bucky of a dark undercurrent, moving around at a fast pace, inside Lex's brain. "This thing, I have never seen anything like it before."

"What is it?" Steve asked curiously, looking closely at the scan with interest.

"I believe it is a chemical component that was in the serum used on Alexia. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were the first human subject?" Shuri looked at Lex for clarification.

"As far as I'm aware, I didn't really look into it much, if I'm honest," Lex answered with a shrug.

Shuri looked at the men around her. "It is possible that this chemical component is affecting how her body reacts to instances of stress or emotion. However, I wouldn't be able to confirm that without testing."

Bucky looked at Lex, trying to gauge her reaction. She looked thoughtfully at Shuri, a frown on her face. "When you say, affecting my body, what do you mean?"

Shuri reduced the hologram again, pursing her lips slightly as she thought about Lex's question. "So for an average human, emotions and stress can affect the body by pumping adrenaline or in the opposite instance, sending the body into shock. I think, whatever chemical this is, its overriding some of the body's and the brain's natural reactions, and when you become emotional or under extreme amounts of stress, it shuts down your pain receptors while increasing the adrenaline, possibly even increasing your brain activity, from the accounts of what I've been told happened to you."

Bucky stood stunned for a moment, contemplating Shuri's explanation. Steve spoke up first. "Is it possible, that this chemical when it activates, could also completely wipe her memory in extreme circumstances when it's triggered?"

Shuri nodded. "It is extremely likely, that would be its way of protecting the brain from trauma."

Bucky looked to Steve. "That's why she can't remember."

Lex looked between the two of them, an expectant look on her face. "What?"

Bucky looked at Lex sympathetically. "You've lost at least an hour of your memory. You got caught up in the collapse of the silo, but even with all the injuries you were carrying, after you eventually came to, you managed to get to us and attack Tony."

"We didn't know how extensive your injuries were at the time, but according to the doctors, it was a feat that you could even walk, let alone run or fight," Steve explained. He motioned to her bandaged shoulder. "You'd been impaled at some point, that shoulder shouldn't have been able to move without severe pain, yet you used it when you tackled and fought Tony."

Bucky watched as Lex licked her lips nervously. This must have been hard for her to wrap her head around. She looked at Bucky. "Do you have the same chemical component?"

Bucky looked to Shuri. She moved the beads on her wrist again, and two holograms appeared, this time of what appeared to be blood samples.

"Bucky's is on the left. Alexia's is the right." It was plain to see, Lex's blood behaved differently to Bucky's. A dark ring encircled her blood cells, while Bucky's did not. "Her blood cells have this strange substance surrounding them, I believe it is related to the chemical component and I am not sure what it does to her blood, but I will run further tests, with her permission." She looked expectantly at the other woman.

Lex shrugged in response. "Sure, it's not going to change anything though, will it?"

Bucky was concerned that perhaps she was struggling with the overwhelming amount of information she was receiving all at once and watched her carefully, looking for any tells that she was struggling with the current situation.

"Very well, Shuri, she will be in your care for the time being," T'challa said matter-of-factly.

Shuri rubbed her hands together. "I'm going to be a busy girl with Sergeant Barnes de-programming and Alexia's research."

Lex looked from Shuri to Bucky. "De-programming?"

Bucky bit his bottom lip awkwardly, suddenly feeling slightly ashamed under the woman's gaze.

"Ooohh, my bad..." Shuri mumbled, looking apologetic. "I'll just go back to my lab and prepare... Uh... yeah..." T'challa looked at his sister with a meaningful glare, motioning for her to hurry out of the room, he followed her out hastily.

"Uh, I'm going to go out there," Steve also murmured hastily, throwing a sympathetic look to Bucky, before patting Lex on the shoulder. "Rest, okay?"

Lex nodded, giving a grateful smile and nod to Steve and watching as he moved to the door. Bucky swallowed a lump in his throat as Steve shut the door after him, Lex turning her attention back to him with an expectant look on her face. He wasn't sure why she was making him anxious, she wasn't wearing her usual malevolent or menacing grin, nor did she look angry. She simply looked curious.

"I'm going back into cryo-sleep stasis."

"Next to the frozen peas, I assume?" she queried, not even batting an eyelid. He gave a small laugh at her instant retort. "Why?" He sighed, pressing his lips together as he considered how best to answer her. Her face went from carefree interest to subtle concern. She shifted sideways and patted the edge of her bed.

He accepted the offer and sat carefully on the edge, turning slightly to the side to look at her.

He took a deep breath, before speaking his mind. "Although, you said differently on the Quinjet on the way to Siberia, the fact of the matter is, I'm not a good guy." She screwed up her face at him skeptical but didn't interrupt. "With this programming in my head, I'm a very dangerous man. Without it I'm probably still a dangerous man, but I'm a dangerous man with a choice, it's different."

He saw Lex's eyebrows raise slightly, before her face was blank of expression. "Fair enough. I can understand why you would want that then." She cocked her head to one side, her brown eyes drifting to look out the window before her, that overlooked the Golden City, capital of Wakanda.

"It's not a bad view to fall asleep to, I guess," she murmured, as the setting sun coloured the sky orange, the sun's rays casting a light over Lex's face and altering the colour of her eyes so they appeared slightly golden.

He considered her for a moment. "I've seen worse," he replied, before turning to look out the window behind him too. "You going to be okay?" he asked softly.

She turned to look back at him, a seemingly calm expression on her face. She nodded and gave a small smile. "I've been around too long for things like this to actually have an effect on me anymore," she answered, motioning towards the view out the window.

He nodded. It was understandable, even if his first glimpse of the city had left him speechless. Unlike he and Steve, who had spent time frozen in one way or another, she had lived in civilisation, learning and watching as technology and life changed through the ages. He wondered if she had ever been close to anyone, and had to watch as time took them away from her.

He grew curious then, biting his lip as he looked back at her. He didn't realise he had been staring so obviously at her again until she sighed, looking down at her hands. "Go ahead."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

"Ask."

She had read him like a book, not even flinching at the thought. He considered which of the many questions he had, to ask her first.

"How did you end up in The Red Room, if you're Australian by birth?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line. "My parents were Soviet spies, embedded in Australia, my mother was actually a Black Widow herself for a time, as I was so kindly reminded over and over again, in The Academy. I was born in Australia, and then when I was about six they were called back to Russia. My mother didn't want to go, she enjoyed the life in Australia, the freedoms and what not. My father was furious."

She took a deep breath and her face contorted as if she was in pain, before she spoke again. "I watched my father, murder my mother. She refused to raise a hand against him, she had done enough hurting of people in her time and was done with it." Lex began picking at the sheet that lay across her legs. Bucky saw her eyes beginning to gloss over, as she bit her bottom lip, before wincing as her skin stretched under the stitches.

"He took you back to Russia?"

Lex nodded, looking back up and out the window again, although she didn't appear to be looking at anything in particular, her face completely void of any emotion. "We returned to Russia, he was greeted as a hero, but I could see, he didn't feel like one. Killing her had an effect on him, even if he wouldn't admit it, and he couldn't even look at me anymore. So, he gave me to The Red Room."

Bucky stared at her. She had joined The Red Room when she was six. SIX. Still a child.

"I began training younger than any other student. I was a fast learner. They didn't know that day by day, I was learning more and more eagerly, and using the thought of killing my teachers as a way to keep pushing on through the training, and the pain. By fifteen, I was ready to graduate."

She took a deep breath, before lifting the bottom of her hospital shirt, looking down as she lowered the waist of her hospital pants slightly, exposing a long, thin scar along the base of her tummy. "Sterilisation, they introduced it after my mother, so I'm told, couldn't have anymore Widows crack under their maternal instincts now, could they? It was the hardest thing for me to accept. I wanted to fight back right then and there, but I knew that it wasn't my time yet."

She dropped her top back down before pinning Bucky with an icy look. "HYDRA rocked up on my sixteenth birthday. I remember Madame B, she brought in this slimy looking man, he had a gaunt face and the way he looked at me made my skin crawl. They made me fight soldiers, four of them, all at once; but I killed every single one. And then, he said I would do." She looked away again. "A week later, they came back and gave me a needle. It was the most pain I had ever felt in my body, but not in my mind. While it felt like my whole entire body was on fire, I kept thinking about what I needed to do. I think it's what stopped me from ending my own life, then and there."

Bucky frowned, watching Lex's expression change from sad to angry before calming again. His own memories began to appear in his head, but he focused his attentions on her face, to keep the images at bay.

"After a week, I was back to training, but my body was different, I was faster, I was stronger and my brain seemed to work faster too. I actually considered breaking out then, but my childish curiosity kept me there."

Bucky looked at her in confusion. "Curiosity? About what?"

"What else could they give me? What else could I use against them? I stayed to see if this HYDRA, could help me destroy The Red Room."

Bucky raised his eyebrows in surprise. A sixteen year old, and all she was thinking about was how she could hurt those, that hurt her. At sixteen, he and Steve were thinking about girls, sneaking drinks or the war happening in a far off country and how they would be looking to serve their country.

"God knows, if my body hadn't burned through that drug they put in me to knock me out, I don't know how much worse I would be than I am now." She looked meaningfully at Bucky then, catching his gaze with her deep brown eyes. "So when I say you're a good guy, Bucky, I mean it. You don't have a bad bone in your body, it's just bad people that got into your head."

He sighed, looking at her sadly, before giving her a small, sympathetic smile, which she returned, before looking away. "What happened after you escaped?"

She grinned malevolently then and Bucky could see her beginning to swell with prid. "A lot." Bucky was almost nervous, seeing the way she smiled as she looked like she was reminiscing in her own mind. "I went after the guards first, picking them off one by one. And then, I began killing the teachers, killing each one I could find in the ways they had each taught me to kill. One was through poison, one was through torture, a few were just your typical and straightforward knife to the chest. I made sure each one knew it was coming though, and I made damn sure, their colleagues knew it was me too." She ran her finger along her chin then, smiling thoughtfully. "I've still got a few scars from the ones that fought back."

He looked closer, leaning in towards her slightly and seeing that she was touching the faintest of scars on her chin. "What was that?" he asked.

"Sword. Admittedly, did not see that one coming," she replied, pulling a face. She nestled into her pillows, leaning back from Bucky again. "That's when they decided to send people after me. The Red Room first, and then HYDRA agents. They were harder to pick, they were so good at blending into their surrounds. Almost invisible. The Red Room was easier to spot, it's handy when you know what to look for." She sighed then, looking sadly down at her hands in her lap. "It got too much though, on one occasion, they took out a whole apartment building to try and kill me. I knew then, I needed to disappear, I didn't mind getting their blood on my hands, but innocent people were being killed because of me. Children."

She stared off into the distance, deep in thought, as he contemplated everything she had told him. It made him almost grateful that he was programmed and wiped clean, not trained the way she was. Almost.

He considered her, looking her up and down for a moment. "You're a hundred and twenty, right?" She glanced up at him expectantly, although furrowing her brow. "When did you realise, you weren't aging normally?" She didn't look like she could be any older than her thirties, apart from her scars, her skin was still smooth and her body fit.

She frowned, seeming to think hard about his questions. "I don't know, it's been so long." She shrugged. "Maybe in 1936, I should have been celebrating my thirtieth birthday, but I still looked barely eighteen. I had to make friends with people in low places and get them to teach me how to make fraudulent certificates and passports as time went by, and changing my appearance regularly, as I had to move from country to country regularly, to stay off the radar."

He nodded, it made sense. He looked at the woman for a moment, before grinning at her. She looked back at him with a suspicious look on her face. "I'm not gonna lie, it's so weird looking at someone who is actually older than me."

She rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand and shook her head, before laughing.

* * *

Bucky sat on a bed, watching as lab technicians moved around preparing a cryo-stasis pod under Shuri's instructions. He was dressed in only a white singlet and light hospital pants, his left shoulder capped with a temporary prosthetic to protect it from the cold.

Steve was with him, as was Lex, a majority of her injuries now fully healed. She stood next to Steve, watching as the techs moved around with a sense of urgency. She looked so nonchalant about the whole environment. She was also dressed in a light pair of hospital pants with a black singlet on, her tanned skin contrasting against the colour. He could see the scars that lined her arms, as she stood under the bright lights of the lab.

Steve appraised Bucky, concern etched into his face. "You sure about this?"

Bucky sighed, resting his hand on his knee and looking up at Steve as Lex turned her attention back to them. "I can't trust my own mind. So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head," he motioned to his own forehead. "I think going back under is the best thing ...for everybody."

Steve nodded, although the disappointment was evident in his posture.

Bucky's gaze slid to Lex as she stood with her arms crossed and a small, understanding smile on her face. "What are you going to do?" he asked with interest.

She shrugged. "It depends on all this testing, once it's done, I don't know. See how the world is moving, see if I can slide back into civilisation unnoticed again." She motioned to Steve. "See if he can keep himself out of trouble. I'm sure I'll find something to do."

Bucky chuckled at her jab at Steve, who laughed bashfully as well. "Well, I hope it goes well for you, and I might see you again one day."

Lex shrugged and was about to respond but Shuri piped up as she approached them with her brother in tow. "Oh, I'm certain you will, I imagine she will be sticking around for a little while at least," Shuri said, looking at Lex and smiling before looking back to Bucky.

"And I'll be sure to call them both when Shuri has a solution and seeks to bring you back into the world." T'challa winked at Bucky, giving him an assuring nod.

Shuri motioned towards the cryo-pod. "We are ready for you."

Bucky sighed nervously, stood and turned to Steve, hugging his old friend tightly. Steve eventually released him. "Take care, pal," Bucky said as he stepped back.

He turned to Lex next, who cocked her head to one side, looking up at him expectantly, a small smile across her lips. "And you, tone down the crazy," he said, pointedly at her.

She winked in response, unfolding her arms and shoving her hands in her pockets. "There's no fun in that, Bucky." He wasn't sure how she would react, considering he had never seen her close to anyone, let alone touch anyone, unless she was trying to kill them, but he quickly reached out, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and bringing her into his chest.

He felt her stiffen under his arm, but he maintained his hold on her, dropping his head so that he could whisper in her ear. "Take care of yourself."

As he held her there, he couldn't help but enjoy the scent of her hair and skin, it reminded him of fresh flowers and vanilla. He was reluctant to let her go, but when she didn't move, he loosened his hold on her.

He was surprised when he felt her arms wrap around his waist slowly. "I'll try," she whispered, Bucky noticing a slight waver in her voice.

He finally let her go, finding her cheeks pink, as she was quick to look away from anyone, seemingly interested in the cryo-pod. He looked back to Steve, who had a knowing grin on his face. He'd seen that look on his face before, many, many years before.

Bucky nodded to Shuri, then stepped into the cryo-pod, turning around and resting against the back as Steve, Lex and T'challa watched on. The door was shut and Bucky felt the cold air rushing around him as his gaze fell upon Lex, her face as nonchalant as ever, before closing his eyes and drifting into darkness.

* * *

Steve stood staring through a window overlooking Golden City as T'Challa walked towards he and Lex.

"Thank you for this."

"Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace..." T'challa replied with a nod of his head. He looked at Lex, who met his gaze. "And you will both be most welcome amongst us."

Lex gave the slightest of smiles, but said nothing as she looked back out the window and over the city. She began to walk away, silently, her posture slightly slumped to Steve's eyes as he watched her walk away.

He looked back to T'challa. "You know, if they find out he's here... they'll come for him," Steve murmured, still watching as Lex disappeared down another hallway. "If they find out they're both here."

T'challa smirked cunningly at Steve. "Let them try."

* * *

 **AAARRRGGGGHHHHH**

 **So this is going onto hiatus for a week or so while I work out the kinks in the transition from CW to BP or IW...**

 **See you on the other side**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	13. Covert

**Well, hello, here we are...**

 **So, been having fun trying to figure out how to work this next part of the story.**

 **I've managed a few chapters, but I'll be taking my time to upload so that I'm certain I'm happy with them.**

 **Thank you to livisabel2, PrewalShadeX, TakeOnTheStars, Ulquiorra-Schiffer-4, Wayward-Son123, Whydoitmc, Smuzzie, theWhiteDeath117, AssassinSasha15 for following/favouriting**

 **And thanks to AnimeFreak71777, AliceCullen3, 19vanelkc, and FutureOlympian for the reviews...**

 **And yes, I forgot to put this in my initial upload so I edited to put in my thank yous...don't judge me, I'm sick lol**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 _ **Part 2**_

 **Chapter 13**

 **Covert**

She watched as Shuri looked through the microscope, before looking at a hologram to her right, flicking her kimoyo beads and moving a second hologram up.

"Your eyes will go square if you keep staring at screens all day," Lex warned, yawning as she continued watching the teen.

"Wow, you're showing your age now," Shuri retorted, shooting a cheeky glance her way.

Lex narrowed her eyes at the young Wakandan, opting to ignore the jab at her age. It was true, after all.

The 120 year old leaned back in the lab chair she was sitting in, putting her feet up on a stool. It had come to be her go to spot, day by day. While T'challa was willing to house her, he didn't believe the people of Wakanda were ready to know she was there yet, so she was confined to the Wakanda Design Group building, under Shuri's care. Everyone was sworn to secrecy, from the scientists and engineers that worked there to the Dora Milaje that frequented the building whilst on guard duty. Shuri was still insistent on examining and testing her limits and abilities, and T'challa wasn't sure it was safe for her to leave the country yet.

It had been about four weeks since she had arrived in Wakanda with Bucky and Steve.

Bucky was now tucked away inside the depths of the facility, while Steve had left to breakout his friends and allies from a high security prison. They were currently on the run, as far as she was aware, opting to keep on the run rather than implicate Wakanda and risk her and Bucky's safety.

She felt a pang of sadness grip her chest as she thought about them, she had only known Steve for a couple of days, while Bucky she had known for nearly ten months, although the real Bucky she had only known for a few days. Still she missed having people by her that had even a remote inkling of what life was like for her, because they themselves were of similar ability and longevity as she was.

There was a beeping noise from her wrist and Lex groaned.

Shuri sat up quickly, touching a kimoyo bead and bringing up a new holographic screen to her left. "What were you thinking about? Your heart rate increased and the chemical mix was starting to trigger."

"Ugh, it's fine, Shuri, I'm not going to go homicidal," she mumbled, rolling her eyes, before fixing her gaze back on the girl. "Yet..." Lex grinned malevolently. Shuri looked at her pointedly. Lex knew that look all too well now. It was Shuri's look of frustration, and usually it was directed at her, but occasionally at her brother, T'challa.

"You know, if you would just answer my question when I ask, this would be over a lot faster," Shuri said pointedly, leaning on the table to look at Lex.

"Child, we both know you would get bored without me," Lex mused with another grin.

Shuri narrowed her eyes at her again, before grinning. "Probably." She looked at the hologram again. "I bet I could guess what you were thinking about by looking at where your heart rate went anyway."

"Really?"

"You were thinking about him," Shuri muttered, the slightest of smirks appearing on her face.

Lex looked at Shuri with a raised eyebrow. "I think of a lot of people, I'm 120 years old."

Shuri blinked. "It's still so hard for me to get my head around that."

"Imagine if you heard the rest."

"You'll tell me one day, won't you?" Shuri asked as she got back to work.

"You don't need the trauma, kid," Lex replied with another yawn as she saw T'challa enter the lab. "Your highness."

"Lex, have you taught my sister anything of respect yet?"

"Wrong tree, buddy," Lex scoffed, earning her a high five from Shuri.

T'challa looked bemused as he approached the table Shuri worked at. "Have you any new information?"

"Only that whatever chemical was added to the serum used on her, definitely wasn't used on Sergeant Barnes. I do not know why they would change it?"

"It could be any countless reasons, from what I can work out," Lex said, moving her communication Kimoyo bead forward and accessing the network. "I did some digging, his unit was captured in 1943 by HYDRA, Steve found him separated from the 107th when he freed them from capture in 1943, in a lab?" Lex moved her hands across the hologram screen in front of her lithely, T'challa and Shuri watching her curiously. "And then Bucky went missing in 1945 after a mission went bad somewhere in the Austrian alps when they were trying to capture Arnim Zola, and he was presumed dead... which we now know, was false."

"Do you think Zola had experimented on Barnes as early as 1943?" T'challa asked curiously.

"It's possible, if he knew about the original serum used on Lex and what happened, then perhaps he tried to adapt the original formula notes and was trying to refine it or mimic it on James," Shuri hypothesised. "And if he fell from the Alps, down a ravine, that's the only explanation as to how he could have possibly survived."

"It is also possible that Zola thought the chemical component was the reason I turned, too," Lex added, closing off the screen by moving her kimoyo bead back into place.

Shuri furrowed her brow then, looking thoughtfully at Lex. "Wait, when did captain Rogers undergo his change?"

Lex shrugged, and Shuri frowned at her, bringing up the information on her own hologram screen.

"1943... by Abraham Erskine," Shuri murmured. "You were injected in 1922, right?" Lex nodded. She watched Shuri touch the screen again, touching the scientists name. "Whoa..." Lex sat up straighter, it took a bit to make Shuri react like that, and T'challa's eyebrows raised too. Shuri swiped the screen to Lex's beads.

' **Abraham Erskine tried to escape with his family to Switzerland in 1935, Hitler sent Johann Schmidt, the head of his SS research division HYDRA-Abteuilung to force Erskine to finish the formula.'**

Lex considered the information for a moment. "Are you thinking that the doctor that worked on Rogers, worked on the serum used on me?"

"Perhaps the serum wasn't tested on another human, before it was utilised on you, then he refined it when he was taken to the US, after finding out what happened to you, before using it on Rogers?" T'challa suggested.

Lex grit her teeth. So was the 'good' doctor, not so good after all, to allow the testing on a sixteen year old? "Is there anything there about it being used on anyone else?"

Shuri nodded as she continued to read, before leaning forward and looking carefully at the screen. "Wait, he had some of his initial experimental formula that he was still testing on mice, stolen in 1921, that's got to be it!" Lex breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't want to believe that a man that had created Captain America, could have been the kind to agree to test such a thing on children. "It also says that while he was being held by the Nazis, before he could finish testing it, it was used by Johann Schmidt, aka Red Skull, against Erskine's wishes in 1940. It had adverse affects."

Lex watched as a video of the results rolled on the screen, grimacing.

"Do you think this is the same version that was used on Alexia?"

"I swear to god, T'challa, call me that one more time..." she threatened glaring at the Wakandan King. T'challa raised his hands in apology.

Shuri smirked at Lex, before continuing to answer his question. "It's possible, but I can only speculate, we really need to access the files by Erskine and see if he left any notes from before his capture in there."

Lex raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Know where they are?"

Shuri glanced at her brother nervously.

"I would not think that wise currently," T'challa replied.

"You need to think less then," Lex retorted with an eye roll. "You need information, I'll get it. No mess, no fuss."

"You're still one of the most wanted people in the world currently," Shuri pointed out.

"Trust me, I can become invisible when I want to. I did it for a hundred years, remember?"

T'challa and Shuri looked at each other, before T'challa continued. "I cannot support this," he said bluntly, before looking pointedly at his sister and leaving the room.

Lex pulled a face and watched him leave. It wasn't like she needed their permission, but she felt like perhaps it was best to have it. She looked back at Shuri who was grinning. "What?"

"Okay, so the old organisation that was holding the information you need to access is in New York. Damn, wish I could go with you."

"Wait... your brother..."

"Said he can't support it. That is his way of saying he doesn't want to know," Shuri said with a wink.

"Ah." Lex grinned as Shuri began searching through intel. "So who has the information."

"S.H.I.E.L.D."

Lex frowned, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "Uh... what?" Lex was well aware of the events in 2014, including Natasha dumping all the information about S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA onto the web, basically dismantling S.H.I.E.L.D and sending HYDRA into hiding, no doubt.

"They're still active, just behind the scenes. All their files should be in there," Shuri explained, bringing up the information.

"Okay, what am I looking for?"

"Anything on Erskine's rescue, by one Agent Peggy Carter," Shuri answered, bringing up images of both. A video played as a much older Peggy Carter spoke about the founding of the organisation called S.S.R, a precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D.

She looked at the woman in the images. She was pretty, in a classical sort of way, with a very iconic English voice that she could see sticking in your head. So that was the woman that Rogers had fallen in love with way back in the day. And now he was interested in her niece. Lex couldn't deny it, it was just a weird situation to her.

"Alright," Lex said, moving a Kimoyo bead on her wrist. "Let's do this."

* * *

Lex looked around the dingy hotel. She really didn't want to touch anything, god knows what had happened in the room. Luckily, she could go long periods without sleep, because there was no way she was touching that bed.

She flicked her short, black hair over her shoulder as she looked out the window, watching as the sun began to rise over the city. It was annoying, having to cut and colour her hair, but she was far more recognisable for her long, blonde locks now. So a drastic change had to be undertaken, and she was certain Shuri had enjoyed it way more than she had. She should have been used to it after a hundred plus years of altering her appearance to go with her constantly changing identity, but it always annoyed her.

She was travelling into the city soon, it was going to be a real test for her as she hadn't done any infiltration scenarios in many years.

In saying that, she was never going to forget that training either.

 **Flash back - 1916**

'A young Alexia and her classmates lined up in the courtyard, a hunting knife in each of their hands. Some glanced nervously at each other, others looked straight ahead with grim determination.

A man was dragged into the centre of the courtyard, a bag over his head and a blind fold over that. The teacher, Ms V, placed a gun in his hand, before whispering in his ear. She quickly walked away.

Madame B, positioned behind a metal panel with a small window waved a red flag, and Alexia began to move. Slow, light but deliberate steps, considering every step she made before she even took it.

To her right, one of the older girls was moving faster than her, she had longer legs, but she was also careless. Alexia heard the slightest of scuffing of her heels on the concrete.

Heels, that was what they were being made to wear for covert and infiltration training. The belief was that if you could be silent in heels, you could be silent in anything. And, considering a woman's best weapon was her sexuality, being able to do anything in heels was considered a vital part of their training.

Alexia saw the man lifting the gun he held up, it was a standard six shooter. Six bullets, six students. She took another step, breathing slowly and silently, careful to avoid a leaf that had drifted into the compound.

Bang! The gun went off.

She was careful not to jump and held her breath, watching as one of the other girls, only a few years older than her, reached for her arm. She had been nicked by a bullet, pulling her hand away to find blood on her hand. Alexia could see her beginning to shake as she stood there, waiting to see if the man would fire in her direction again.

He turned his aim, his arm wavering in the air as he tried to ascertain if he had shot whatever it was that he had heard.

The oldest girl to Alexia's right who had been quite noisy to her ears, also stopped, as the gun passed over her path.

Alexia, however, didn't stop. She knew that if she did, any noises she might have been making would stick out in the man's head instead of being past over. She stepped slightly left to avoid uneven ground, right to avoid a stick.

The man's aim shifted directly to her left, but Alexia paid it off, continuing to move. She was quite short, and the man's aim appeared high, so perhaps he was hearing the leaves rustling outside the compound.

His aim moved again and fired.

The eldest girl fell to the ground. She didn't make a sound, but Alexia could see she was still alive, clinging to her stomach. They knew they weren't allowed to cry. It would be so much worse if they did.

Alexia slowed her steps as a breeze blew, this was the dangerous point, as the breeze picked up leaves and other debris and blew them into the courtyard.

Alexia saw one of the older girls continue walking and it made Alexia nervous. She knew she needed to get to the man first, she didn't want to be last. She dreaded to think what might happen if she was last.

She began walking again, carefully stepping over a large dip in the courtyard.

Bang! Alexia was shocked as a bullet passed to her left, hearing a sharp breath behind her. She turned her head slightly to see another girl had been shot, this time in the chest. Lex crouched quickly, in case the man had heard the girl's laboured breathing. The blood poured from the wound as she carefully slumped to the ground, trying to apply pressure to her own wound.

Alexia took a deep, silent breath and looked back to the front, the man's aim was now towards the older girl that was closest to him. She shifted her footsteps left, trying to go around the man.

Alexia took the opportunity to take some quick steps, still being careful not to be too heavy footed in her heels. She gained some ground as he brought the gun back in her direction. She slowed again, calculating the distance between her and him. It was barely three metres now.

The older girl was also close, and Alexia gripped her knife tightly. She needed this. The older girl must have been thinking the same thing, because she took a careless step while looking at Alexia, right onto a small leaf. Being that it was autumn, the leaf made a subtle crunch under foot, and the man began to move his aim towards her.

Alexia grinned, not quite believing her own luck, before starting to move quickly towards him, the knife raised high above her head.

Bang!

Alexia felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. The man had turned the gun quickly, firing in her direction. It hadn't stopped her though. She plunged the knife into his throat, twisting it sharply and pulling it back out.

She stood breathing heavily through the pain, willing herself not to show the emotions as the man bled all over the middle of the courtyard.

The older girl scowled at her, but was quick to snap to attention as Madame B appeared before them.

Alexia tried to stand up straight, but her shoulder hurt.

Madame B looked to the older girl, sneering at her, before walking towards Alexia. She straightened up a bit more. She had completed the task first, she was going to be fine.

There was a sharp pain across her cheek as Madame B slapped her roughly. She was stunned but didn't allow any emotion to show on her face. If she wanted to survive to have her revenge, she had to learn their skills to beat them.'

Lex felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she was snapped from her stupor by the sound of a chiming sound. It was the alarm on her phone. It was time to go.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	14. The Past

**Morning all**

 **Many thanks to AnimeFreak71777 and AliceCullen3 for the reviews**

 **And welcome to the adventure to prancerpuppy, Aracmel, nathaliedew98, madfinn654321, Firecrane930, and Lizzyg423**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **The Past**

Lex pushed open the door of the building, holding the door open for two women as they walked out, smiling at them brightly.

Oh yeah, this was S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters alright. She had not seen this many pressed suits since that time she'd had to slip out of the UK after Thor had stopped some alien invasion.

She strode towards the security point, holding the security pass she had just scanned from the two women that passed her by. Infiltration was going to be made so much easier thanks to the toys Shuri had given her to send her on her way.

She dropped her pass, phone and keys into the X-ray scanner, before walking through the body scanner with not a sound from the machine, giving an alluring smile at the security guard on the other side as she did so.

He smiled broadly back at her, as she leaned over to pick up her things, clipping her pass to her belt loop and slipping her keys into her pocket.

"Have a good day, ma'am," the security guard said with a nod, his eyes never leaving her.

"You too, mate," she replied with a wink, feeling his eyes following her as she walked away. She headed for the elevators. According to her research, the archive was in one of the bottom floors. There were a few people waiting for the elevators, so she stood for a few minutes, checking her watch impatiently. She glanced at the people around her, then back to security, seeing the security guard's attention now back on his job, before turning and heading for the stairs.

Once into the staircase she looked up and down the centre, seeing if there was anyone else using them. When she was certain they weren't, she slipped a ring off her keys, onto her middle finger and hitting the stone set into the centre. A hologram appeared and Lex scanned the details quickly. It was a map of the building.

She turned quickly and hurried downstairs, she was very tempted to just launch herself down the centre, but thought it best to play it safe. Ten minutes later, she finally made it to the floor she needed. The building was deceptively bigger than it appeared on the outside. She looked at the door that read 'RESTRICTED' in big red letters.

She analysed the lock, it was a digital pin lock.

Using her ring, she aimed the stone towards the number screen, tapping the side of the ring and activating a laser scanner. As it passed over the numbers she could see the oil left from people's fingers over the appropriate code.

Inputting the code, she waited momentarily before the lock turned green and she grinned, pulling the door open.

When she slipped inside, it was dimly lit, only a few lights on here and there. She glanced around the room, looking to see if there was anyone in the archives. She was certain there had to be a caretaker, but she couldn't see them at this point.

Lex began to move through the shelves, scanning the boxes quickly, out of curiosity, she knew what she needed wouldn't be just anywhere. Boxes listed with names like 'Duggan' 'Sitwell' and 'Potts' sat on the shelves, but none of them were of any interest to her.

She momentarily stopped, considering whether she had just heard someone breathe close by, crouching slightly to look around, but still couldn't see anything or anyone.

Still cautiously looking around, she moved to the back of the archive, where another line of shelves rested against the wall. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, moving her head from side to side, considering the shelves for a moment.

This was supposed to be the furthest side of the building, why weren't there any windows or at least vents on this wall?

She raised her ring towards the wall, tapping the side again, and the laser scanner appeared once more. She walked along the wall, watching the wall as the laser passed over it. As the laser ran over a small gap between files and boxes, the laser line disappeared in a tiny gap in the wall behind them, the human eye would not have been able to detect it. She shut off the scanner, before moving her face closer to the fake wall, now she just needed to figure out how to get in there.

Stepping back, she looked all around for any discrepancies in the wall. Most of the boxes were closely packed together on the shelves, and nothing really stuck out to her as being out of place. She considered her options, before beginning to read the labels on the boxes.

One in particular drew her attention. 'Emergence'

She narrowed her eyes slightly, reaching for the box slowly and trying to lift it. It didn't move and she grinned to herself. She pulled it towards her and heard a click, before there was the sound of gears moving against each other.

The door popped slightly, and she pulled it back to reveal another lock, this one was different though. She sighed, it was an audio receiver.

She thought for a moment, raising an eyebrow as she considered her options, before she reached for the receiver and activated it. Shuri had shown her recordings of Peggy Carter, and the woman's voice had a distinct sound to it, but it had been a long time since she'd utilised her imitation skills. If she got this wrong, it could trigger the security for the whole building, and that was going to bring with it a tonne of hurt.

She took a deep breath. "Peggy Carter."

She waited with bated breath as the computer considered it, wondering if it sent a silent alarm rather than just your generic security alarm.

The screen flashed green before there was the sound of rushing air from out of the doorway, as it depressurised the room within.

Lex blew out a breath and relaxed slightly, as she waited for the door to slide open. "Thank you, Agent Carter." Once the door was wide enough, she slipped inside, lights activating as she moved down the long dark hallway. She couldn't help but loathe not having a weapon on hand, she had a strange feeling as she walked deeper into the archive.

Eventually, she found the end, bright lights activating and making her cringe slightly after being in the darker, low security archive room. Looking around, the high tech archive room had computer screens and pictures all around the room, with a long table in the centre of the room. She stood in awe for a moment.

Even though she had spent the last month in Wakanda, where the technological advances were well above the norm, the room still made her head spin.

"Where the hell do I start?" She murmured to herself, before looking up at the image of Peggy Carter.

"Well, you can start with your name," a voice came from behind her.

She turned quickly, stepping back into a ready stance, as she found a tall, dark man with an eye patch over one eye and wearing a black leather trench coat looking at her, a handgun raised and pointed straight at her. She clenched her fists tighter, calculating the distance between them and the trajectory of the bullet if he fired, within seconds of realising he was there.

He furrowed his brow as she watched him cautiously. She had no weapon and he had a gun, it wasn't great odds, but she could work with them. But she really didn't want to leave the room without answers.

"Alexia Nikulkin," he said, a small smirk spreading on his lips. Lex grimaced at the use of her full name, but didn't answer. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

She cocked her head to one side, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously, but still didn't speak. She kept her heart rate even, although her body tensed as her nerves were on edge.

He lowered his gun, putting it back into his hip holster and she raised her eyebrows expectantly. Who the hell was this man?

"I take it you're looking for the information on Project Rebirth?" He asked walking towards one of the computers.

She was going to get wrinkles from the amount of frowning she was currently doing. "Who are you?" she demanded finally.

"Really? Cap didn't mention me? Well, he's off the Christmas card list," the man said, touching a computer screen under Peggy Carter's picture. "The name's Nick Fury, for a while, I ran this joint."

Of course, she had read about him in the information dump Romanoff had done, except he was supposed to be dead. "And now?" She asked, still not moving from her spot.

"I've been waiting on you to show up."

Lex shot him an annoyed look. "Yes, I think we established that already. My point is, why?"

He tapped on the screen a few times, before a video began to play. It was her interview with Natasha Romanoff in the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. And then another video, from Leipzig airport in Berlin a month ago, footage of her fighting alongside Bucky and Sam inside the airport terminal.

"You realise we didn't know you existed until recently. We knew Erskine had been forced to make a version of the serum for Schmidt, we didn't know it was tested before then."

"I'm not sure tested is an accurate description, but your point?"

"I figured it was only a matter of time before you came to find some answers," he said, continuing to tap at the screen. "USB?" She frowned again, not moving. This had to be a trick, it couldn't be this easy. She was a wanted woman. He looked back at her with his one eye, looking at her expectantly. "Relax, my resources are tied up right now, but I'd like to see some answers about you myself," Nick replied pointedly.

Lex still didn't like how easy this was, but she also didn't want to hang around either. She reached in and pulled the USB off her key ring and threw it to him.

"How's Cap?" Nick asked as he slid the device into the screen.

"Don't know." Nick looked back at her with raised eyebrows but she pinned him with an icy glare and he didn't say anything more.

He pulled the USB and moved to hand it back to her, but she looked at him threateningly and took a step back herself. Instead, he carefully placed it on the table in the centre of the room, sliding the USB to her. She caught it, looking at it suspiciously before pocketing it. "Might I suggest, that the next time you need information, you just call?" He pulled a card from his pocket and also slid it across the table to her.

She glanced at it, reading the number on it, but didn't pick it up. "I'll take it into consideration," she replied curtly. "You know you can't plant a trace on this, right? It's got a virus that kills anything that even breaths the wrong way."

He held up his hands. "No, ma'am."

Lex wasn't sure if she trusted the man, and slowly backed out of the room, not turning around until she was at the end of the hallway and back into the main archive room.

She turned hurriedly out of the room, being far more cautious than when she came in.

* * *

Back at her hotel, she had a safe protocol program on her encrypted computer, given to her by Shuri, check over the USB for viruses and tracking algorithms. Once it was cleared, she opened up the files Nick Fury had gifted her.

There was plenty of information for Erskine's post rescue work for Project Rebirth, but the information for pre rescue was patchy at best. It mentioned the work on Johann Schmidt, the results, and also his reluctance on creating the serum for the Nazis. She commended him on his morals.

She was somewhat dejected by the end of reading all the meaningless information, as she closed the file on her laptop. While it was all very useful information, there had been none for pre-1935.

She sat back in the chair and sighed, before looking at the other files attached to the USB.

'RED ROOM'

'OPERATION PAPERCLIP'

Lex considered it for a moment, wondering why he would have attached them. She lingered over the file labelled 'RED ROOM' for a moment before finally opening it.

It was like a blast to the head, images and words pouring through her mind that she hadn't seen in a long time. Names, faces, training exercises, pain and ballet. Always the bloody ballet.

She looked away for a moment, trying to compose herself. It took her a moment to hear something beeping. She pulled up her sleeve to find the small Kimoyo bead bracelet on her wrist was chiming at her.

Shuri had refused to let her leave without one, even after Lex had warned her about the implications if she was caught wearing any obvious Wakandan paraphernalia. So Shuri had made a much smaller version that looked just like any other ornamental piece of jewellery, with only a very basic operating and communication system. Or so she thought.

Lex activated the communication bead, bringing up a hologram screen.

"Hey, what's going on? Your heart rate just sky rocketed well above the capacity of a human heart!"

Lex looked at the screen in disbelief. "Are you still tracking me?"

"Well, yeah, of course."

Lex rolled her eyes. "It's fine, I just had a... run in, with someone." She knew it best not to tell Shuri too much, just to be safe.

"You sure? Because you should be dead right now."

"Not dead."

"Alright, well, I've got to get ready for the Ritual Battle ceremony. Let me know if you need help or anything."

"Yes, Shuri, I'll send you some info that I got on Erskine too, you can look over it in your free time," Lex said beginning to tap away at her laptop again. She shut down the communication after sending the file on Erskine, before looking back to the Red Room file.

Natasha Romanoff had done a complete analysis on her time in the Red Room, in detail. Including, details of a man undertaking training there for a short time. A man with a metal arm. She furrowed her brow at the mention, but it made sense, how else would HYDRA want to train him after seeing how good Alexia was. She grinned to herself, a little tingle of pride in her chest at the thought.

There was also mention in a report by Peggy Carter of an infiltration she and the Howling Commandos had done years after the war had ended. Lex read it with great interest, and began to wonder, was the Red Room still intact?

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she considered the thought. When she had left Belarus, she had not been able to destroy the place as she would have liked, due to being pursued by both HYDRA and The Red Room at the time, and as far as she knew, it was still operational in the nineties, although it would have had to have been shut down at the fall of the USSR.

As much as she wished to never set foot in that place again, she sensed that some of the answers she needed might be found there.

* * *

Lex stared across the snow covered landscape as the sun began to rise in the distance.

The buildings silhouetted against a light orange sky, and if she didn't know what they had been used for, she'd almost say the view was beautiful.

As she stood and considered the sight before her, one of the sled dogs howled behind her, and she turned. _"Ssshhh,"_ she began to soothe it in Russian, scratching its ear. _"I'm sure there are many ghosts here, we should let them slumber, but I have questions and they're the only ones who know the answers."_

She moved to the sled, lifting the snow hook from the ground as she stepped onto the skids. "Haaa!" The team of four dogs lurched forward, pulling the sled down the hill and towards the facility.

Lex set up camp for the dogs outside the facility, ensuring they were fed and comforted before setting her attention to the buildings that loomed before her.

The fence was loose, with official looking tape wrapped around it in places, blowing in the wind and a condemned sign wired to the gate, but Lex disregarded it, stepping over the padlocked chain, as the piled snow was so high up the fence. She noticed the wire fence had been cut in several places at some point, further down the fence too. Scavengers, no doubt.

She walked in along the cobbled road under the high ceiling of the covered entrance way, careful to be silent. It was a force of habit, it seemed. Looking up at the dilapidated buildings, she could see they had been vacant for many years, but they were still easily recognisable to her. The Commissary, the gym, the ballet hall and the dorm. She recognised them all.

She stopped in the centre of the courtyard, looking around it. Grass was growing wild in between the pavers of the yard, poking through the snow where it was beginning to melt away in the morning sun. It was strange to see it like that, it looked drastically different and unkempt.

Her eyes drifted to her feet, she shuffled her boots back and forth to reveal the pavers underneath the snow, and she noticed she stood on a well worn space, the pavers there deteriorating faster than those around them. Copious amounts of blood and scrubbing could do that.

She quickly stepped away and walked towards the main building that housed the gym, classrooms and ballet hall. She noticed the door was falling off its hinges, but also what appeared to be old, dried blood stains. Clearly, whatever had caused the facility to be closed down was a serious affair.

She carefully stepped into the building, watching her step. Bullet holes pocked the interior of the room, blood stains also sporadically spotted on the floors and walls. Lex subdued the urge to cough from the smell. There had been a fight here that had ended in bloodshed and the smell of death still clung to the building.

Lex stood for a moment, taking in the entrance way. It was a big part of their training as she looked from the door to the wall on the right side.

 **Flash back - 1913**

'Alexia lined up beside her class mates, each staring straight ahead. She was greatly dwarfed by the other girls who were older than her by a fair few years.

Madame B walked along in front of them, examining each girl, before moving to stand in front of them all. She clapped her hands loudly'

Lex snapped back to the present, jumping slightly at the memory. She shook her head to compose herself, before continuing further into the hall.

She wandered the ballet hall, the gym and the classrooms. There was paper and furniture strewn everywhere and plenty of blood, but she found it intriguing that there was no bodies. No markings of an investigation by authorities.

She smelt HYDRA at work.

She looked along the corridor that contained the classrooms where they would watch video after video from the West. Cartoons, news stories, movies, the list was endless. While the other girls hadn't noticed them, she had noticed subliminal messages had been cut into the videos, aimed to brainwash them.

The difference was, Lex had lived in the western world, she knew what it was like out there, even as a six year old. It was the one thing that pushed her to be the best. She didn't consider herself Russian after her mother's death, she was a westerner trapped by Russian ideology and fear mongering.

At the end of the corridor was a room she had never been in before. Madame B's office. She narrowed her eyes at the dark brown door, before silently moving towards it. Surprisingly, the door looked like it hadn't been touched by the violence around it.

She stopped, glancing at the door handle. It was a good thing she had taken those Kimoyo beads off, because she felt like her heart might take off out of her chest cavity at that moment.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, before reaching for the door handle. It turned in her hand and she pushed it open, the door creaking so loudly she wondered if the dead might awaken to investigate.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	15. Discovered

**Evening!**

 **I kinda really liked where these few chapters were going, so had to post another.**

 **Many thanks to all those who have just joined, and to those that have reviewed, but it's currently 1030pm here and my phone died a good fifteen minutes ago so I can't check for names. You know who you are though!**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Discovered**

The room smelt musty, like it hadn't been opened for years, but it was obvious it had been pilfered long ago. Filing cabinets, desk draws and cupboards, all were open and empty. A few newspaper clippings were left strewn on the floor, and Lex bent down to pick one up. It was dated in the nineties, and the story spoke of the killing of a government official.

"Hmm, Nat," she whispered with a malevolent smirk. Lex let the clipping drop back to the floor before moving around the room, looking over what was left in there, which wasn't much. A pen, blank papers, an empty fish tank. She scanned the walls for any hidden safes or alcoves, but found neither.

Lex sighed, wondering if her trip was going to prove futile, when she looked out the window. She noticed a building she didn't recognise. It was positioned directly behind the dorm building, small in stature, almost like a shed. It looked out of place with the other infrastructure, like it was erected within the last few decades. She narrowed her eyes, before turning and hurrying from the room.

She hurried outside, fighting her way through piles of heavy snow and slush, before finally reaching the building to find the door was locked. She found that odd, considering the state of the rest of the facility. The door, however, was suffering from the effects of age and she kicked at it, knocking it off its hinges easily. Inside, a steel ladder lowered into the ground, to what appeared to be some kind of bunker.

"Well, this just looks ominous, doesn't it?" she murmured to herself before a slight grin crept onto her lips. She pulled the handgun she had been carrying in a holster at her hip and dropped into the hole, ignoring the ladder.

Landing at a crouch, she looked around, the bunker walls were thick concrete, and she noticed bullet holes here too. She moved down the bunker, pulling a torch from her pocket to light her way as it darkened.

The corridor wound left and right, before she finally found a large steel door which had been left partially open, an old blood stain on the front of it. Many people had died protecting this place.

She shoved it with her shoulder, forcing it to open wider and allowing her room to step inside. It appeared to be some kind of lab, reminiscent of the Siberian bunker Bucky had taken them too. She glanced around, shining her torch about the chamber, seeing similar capsules as in Siberia, all were empty and shattered, blood inside them. She couldn't help feeling slightly relieved at that, as she slipped her handgun back into her holster.

She found a power terminal close to the capsules and noticed it appeared to be on standby, after all this time. She frowned slightly, considering the panel, before touching the yellow button that flashed at her.

The chamber lit up, some sparks flying from exposed wires in the walls where things had been ripped from their ports, making her duck slightly, her hand drifting back down to her holstered hand gun.

With the lights now on, she got a better look around the chamber, putting her torch back in her pocket. The chamber set up was near identical to the one in Siberia, but this chamber had a low ceiling, obviously built after the school had been well established, and she suspected it had been used for a similar purpose to Siberia, perhaps for the future Black Widows to suffer similar fates as she was supposed to. She wondered about Natasha for a moment, as she continued to take on her surrounds. Had Natasha undertaken an enhancement? She knew little about the red head, except for her reports on The Red Room for S.H.I.E.L.D. and it's possible she had neglected to add important information about that. She noted to remember to ask her about that one day.

She heard the sound of an audio speaker kicking in and turned to find a video terminal.

" _Testing ... testing ..."_ someone said in German.

" _Audio visual is operational, General."_

" _Very good."_

Lex walked to stand in front of the video terminal. It was a video of a doctor, it looked to be dishevelled Abraham Erskine, and he was looking nervously around at soldiers that surrounded him. One in particular was high ranking, as she recognised the golden insignias on his Nazi uniform.

" _If you don't mind, doctor..."_

Erskine sighed, before beginning to inject mice with some strange liquid. They watched in anticipation as the mice seemed to have no reaction at all.

There were murmurs amongst them, as they began to glare at the Dr, but then the mice gave a shrill scream, before seeming to rip themselves apart.

There were more murmurs then, and chatter amongst the German rank, while the doctor seemed slightly relieved.

The video went black, and Lex wrinkled her nose, that really hadn't helped her at all. She went to walk away when another video began.

" _Testing,"_ Dr Erskine whispered. Lex looked back at the screen, furrowing her brow. Erskine looked scared.

" _I fear, that something terrible will happen soon. My early stage formula has been taken. It was not completed yet, I had not been able to remove the chemical component that overrides the natural reaction to pain and heightens all aspects of strength and endurance in an emotional state. I fear the worst, if used on the wrong person it could bring about a catastrophic reaction, if they even survived the first five minutes._ " Lex narrowed her eyes.

" _There are rumours of war again, and I fear whomever has stolen my serum has only ill intentions. I can only hope their chosen subject is either of weak mind, and the formula destroys them, or is of strong mind with a good heart, I can only see this being how they can survive. Either way, I fear the worst for them."_

Silence reigned again for a moment before the next video played. It was her. She was forced to sit on her bed while a needle was forced into the base of her neck. She was completely compliant to the adults around her, who said nothing to her as the liquid was drained from the needle. The slimey man stared down at her.

She felt a familiar sting in her neck, as she stared at the video, even though she was alone. She hadn't been aware that they were filming her, nor that they were filming her transformation as the video changed to show her writhing in pain in a small room that she recognised so well as a quarantine room in The Red Room Academy. The screams were haunting.

Lex couldn't help but notice how small she was before, as she continued to watch herself. The slimy man appeared again in the next clip, looking her over as she now stood in front of him in nothing but her undergarments, noticeably taller and bigger, her face completely void of any emotion and staring dead ahead, as he leered at her body. This had to be the man who stole the formula from Erskine.

She took a quick photo on her phone just as the slimy man turned around to speak to Madame B, a snarl of a smirk on his lips as he nodded towards her.

The video cut again, plunging the screen to darkness, and she stood staring at the terminal as the memories of the week after her injection lingered in her mind. The pain had been unspeakable, she could never describe it if she tried, yet she had endured. Dr Erskine's words lingered on her mind.

 _I can only hope their chosen subject is either of weak mind and the formula destroys them, or is of strong mind with a good heart, I can only see this being how they can survive._

Was it possible? Could she, who had murdered so many people in cold blood and craved revenge for so long, actually have a good heart? What sick joke would that be?

She needed to find the slimey looking man. She considered what to do next and then reached for the video terminal, looking to eject the video and take it with her. The one good thing about living through the turn of the century was watching the technology change and actually knowing how to use things many in the modern age forgot existed.

She pushed the button, but nothing happened. She frowned, before pushing open the door to the video player.

It was empty.

* * *

Part of Lex was freaking out. The other part, the highly trained weapon in her, was telling her to ignore everything aside from the information she now had, how she got it, wasn't important, she had what she needed.

She left the bunker in a hurry, not looking back. She was mildly concerned with what she might see if she did.

As she approached the gate, she saw someone standing there, her footsteps immediately slowing and her hand reaching for her handgun holstered at her thigh.

It looked to be a young girl, maybe a teen, and Lex was immediately on edge, her memories of The Red Room making her wary. After seeing the equipment in the underground chamber, she was expecting anything.

" _What are you doing in there? Don't you know it's off limits?"_ she asked in Russian.

" _I was curious,"_ Lex replied, analysing the girl's features as she got closer. She was dressed in gum boots, a thick jacket that looked well worn over a woollen dress. She had a grey beanie on over her golden coloured hair that was braided on either side of her head, framing her pretty European features. She was dressed a lot like the farmers she had come past on her way to the academy, but she wasn't letting her guard down.

" _Well you shouldn't be, this is a place of darkness and misery, get out before it falls down on you,"_ the girl implored, motioning for Lex to come out.

" _I'm admiring the architecture."_ Lex stopped under the covered entrance way and pretended to be admiring the mouldings around the eves.

" _Nobody admires this place. Don't you know what it is?"_ Lex looked at her expectantly, not moving any closer. _"They trained killers here. Spies, for the Soviets."_

" _That's just stories for tourism, surely,"_ Lex replied with a slight laugh, being careful to not convey any recognition of the truth, her hand easing away from her side.

" _No, it's true, my father said that one time the Americans even attacked them here and men died."_

Lex raised her eyebrows, intrigued by the girl's story, knowing well enough herself, that it was true. _"How would he know that?"_

" _There were explosions, and he saw the American soldiers in their trucks as they left."_

Lex was dubious, but finally moved towards the gate, as the teen stepped back and let her climb out. _"And what are you doing here?"_ she asked her as she climbed out the same way she had come in.

" _I heard your dogs howling a few minutes ago and came to investigate,"_ she answered, motioning to the dogs. They were all sitting looking towards them, their ears upright and alert.

" _Ah, naughty dogs."_

" _They can sense the death in the air here, it makes them nervous."_

Lex frowned. This farmer's girl was certainly into her mystic beliefs. _"Well, I find it hard to believe such a place could exist."_

" _Why? Men in iron suits who can fly, exist. Men who fought in the great wars live and fight today having barely aged a day. Why is it hard to believe women were trained to kill people here?"_

Lex glanced sideways at the girl before beginning to walk towards the dog's camp, she was very clever for a farmer's girl. _"I suppose you have a good point there."_ She pursed her lips together as the girl walked with her. _"Tell me then, do you know why this place closed down?"_

The girl glanced sideways at her, having to look up slightly, as Lex was much taller than her. _"Why? I don't think the reason much matters, just that it's good it's gone. Sometimes it's best just to move on."_

" _As true as that is, I'm sure, I'm intrigued as to why it was here in the first place but also as to what happened to close it down."_

" _My father says that it was started to train orphans to be spies and assassins for the Soviets, prior to the world wars. Then, they wanted to make special soldiers using experiments. It all went bad in the nineties when Belarus claimed their independence at the fall of the USSR. Belarusians felt that the Soviets had been trying to remove their culture from the country, and they knew this facility was Russian run. It was a bloody fight, many people died, mostly Belarusians at the hands of the women here, some girls were younger than me. And then after, men in suits came and cleaned everything up."_

Lex stopped at the edge of her camp, looking back at the girl. _"Suits? Did your father say who they were."_

She shook her head. " _No, he said that some had a strange skull insignia on them, but the farmers and villagers just kept to themselves. The people just wanted to forget about this place, it has many horrible secrets. We are glad it's gone, and glad the world has moved on. It doesn't define us. Our past shouldn't define us, only what we want to be, should define us."_ Lex raised her eyes brows at the girl as she looked back to the academy. _"So much Death and despair was caused by this place."_

Lex narrowed her eyes as a icy cold wind blew across the field. HYDRA had to have sent a clean up crew, it would make sense, considering everything she had read after the 2014 incident. She turned to scratch the head of the lead dog of her sled dog team, whose eyes were intently fixed on the teen who stood behind her. _"Well, it's definitely an interesting story, but like I said, I find it all very hard to..."_ she trailed off as she turned around to find the girl was gone.

All four dogs howled loudly from their seated positions, as Lex looked around across the fields surrounding the academy. There was no one in sight, not a building within miles, nor trees, nowhere for the girl to hide. Yet, where had she gone?

Lex stood motionless, her heart rate beginning to rise slowly, as she looked at the ground where the girl had been standing to see a bright blue flower sprouting from a plant that looked very out of place in the current snowy environment.

She stared at it for a moment, it looked very familiar. She stooped down to look at it, before reaching out to touch it, unsure if it was real or not. "I know these..." As she touched the bright blue flower petals, there was an onslaught of memories in her head.

 **Flashback**

Her mother, a beautiful woman of slight build with soft golden blonde hair, playing in a park with her and holding the flower up to a young Alexia, who tried to reach for it.

A vase full of blue flowers on a window sill.

Walking through the park holding her mother's hand and looking at garden beds full of the flowers. Her mother's lifeless face, lying beside a broken vase with blue flowers lying all around her.

Lex fell backwards in shock, shuffling back from the plant quickly until she ran into one of the dogs, who barked in her ear and jumped sideways. She looked around in bewilderment, as the dog and another close at hand began to assault her face sympathetically.

She fought them off of her, getting back to her feet unsteadily as her head was now throbbing from the onslaught, still staring at the plant.

"Royal Bluebell," she murmured, looking at the flower again. She stepped forward and pulled it up from the ground. They had been her mother's favourite flower and only found in one place in Australia. She was thoughtful for a moment before looking around the snowy fields again. "How did it get here?"

The wind swirled around her, the dogs howling again as she looked back down at the flower in her hand.

* * *

 **UUUHHHHH... yes. That is all...**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	16. Undesirable

**Hhhheeyyyy...**

 **So I know this fic has slowed down a little bit, but I assure you, it's about to pick up again in the next few chapters, so just bear with me**

 **Thank you to Perith99, leeny lenn, carolbarros2001, WhiteRabbit1231, reddani15, and mgben for joining the adventure and also to my reviewers :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Undesirable**

Back in her hotel room, Lex went through all her notes, examined the files given to her by Nick Fury, and then went searching for anything she could find on the internet that was available to her, but still she could not find the identity of the slimy looking man who had jabbed her with the serum.

Feeling slightly dejected, she started replaying videos from Project Rebirth.

It was an array of videos, including Steve Rogers in training with many other prospective candidates, of Dr Erskine researching the serum and Steve's biology make up and the actual operation involved in transforming Steve. Part way through the video of Steve undergoing the change, Lex's eyes drifted from the screen and lingered on the Royal Bluebell sitting on the window sill of her hotel room directly behind the laptop. Although it had been nearly 24 hours since she had picked it from the ground, it hadn't wilted or died at all.

She thought about the strange circumstances surrounding the flower, wondering if her hunch about the teenage girl she had met was true. The girl looked vaguely familiar, but not in the sense that she'd ever met her before. She just had a feeling that she knew her, or had known her, at some time in her life. She had felt comfortable around her, aside from the girl's strange thoughts about the Red Room.

A gunshot on the video brought Lex's attention back to the screen and she watched as Erskine fell to the floor. The camera filming the operation had captured the assassination, and Lex watched to see the ensuing mayhem. A man ran to the shelving to one side of the operating area with a gun in hand, grabbing a small blue vile, before turning to leave, his face captured on camera.

Lex's eyes widened, she moved to sit forward in her seat and paused the video, rewinding it a few seconds. The image wasn't great, and he looked slightly different, but the similarities were noticeable. She pulled out her phone, bringing up the image she had taken at the bunker beneath The Red Room Academy, holding the phone up to the screen.

It was the slimy man.

She continued to watch the video, as the man escaped the building, Steve and Peggy chasing after him, while the camera continued to film the aftermath inside the lab.

As the video cut, she was quick to go back through the notes regarding Project Rebirth, searching for the after action report of the operation and of the assassination of Erskine.

The notes she found revealed that he was Heinz Kruger, a former Nazi Gestapo officer, turned HYDRA agent. She was disappointed to see he had committed suicide when captured by Steve immediately after his transformation.

"Bugger." Another dead end. She sighed, beginning to think perhaps she may as well give up. She looked back at the files open on the screen and a name stuck out at her.

Arnim Zola.

The doctor who had worked on Bucky, had experimented on him, brainwashed him and Shuri believed he must have used a similar serum on him prior to his fall in 1945 for him to have survived it, so that means he must have known about the original formula... or had the original notes.

She sat up quickly, looking at the files from S.H.I.E.L.D to see if there was anything available on Zola.

'OPERATION PAPERCLIP'

Realising she hadn't read it yet, she opened the file.

In it were journal entries, formulas, weapon designs and videos. She began reading through everything she could find.

She found entries regarding Zola's work post capture, but not much in the way of work before his capture, like on Bucky. And there was certainly no admission that he had, but of course, because he wanted to return to the soldier waiting in cryo-stasis once he was given his freedom from Operation Paperclip.

She felt a pang of disappointment, she was interested to see if her and Shuri's theory was correct. It would have to wait though.

She continued reading to discover Zola had been instrumental in the fall of the original S.H.I.E.L.D and rise of the modern HYDRA, reading into everything she could find, watching videos on his work within S.H.I.E.L.D, as well as some small propaganda videos that were found from his time in Nazi Germany.

One particular video caught her attention. It wasn't about him though, it was about the capture of the HYDRA headquarters in the Bavarian Alps by the SSR, where Zola and Schmidt had been doing most of their work for many years before Steve began to destroy the organisation.

She sighed, pulling a face. "Looks like I'm going rock climbing."

* * *

Lex stared up at the huge metal doors of a castle nestled into the biggest mountain of the Bavarian Alps. The castle and the roads leading up to it had been left to go wild after the war. The road was completely inaccessible except on foot, and she had been required to do some climbing, as predicted.

Strewn around the front of the castle were remnants of the war. Barbed wire, disintegrating sand bags, rusted weapons and broken vehicles littered what should have been the castle courtyard as she dropped her large pack to the ground.

She pulled out a small pack, a holstered handgun and torch, attaching the holster to her thigh and dropping the torch into her small pack. She dropped the heavy jacket she was wearing and threw the beanie into the large pack too, instantly feeling the cold air around her in her bodysuit.

She didn't know what to expect inside the castle, but thought it best to be able to move around freely and not be encumbered by a heavy jacket and pack.

Shuri had insisted on making her a new bodysuit before she left, similar to the one she had been given by Clint and Wanda for the fight against Iron Man and his cronies, but with the hopes it would offer her more protection in a fight. It was made with the same Vibranium material as T'challa's. It certainly wasn't any more comfortable than the old one though, as she fidgeted with it slightly.

She slung the small pack onto her back and made a move to the castle entrance, slipping inside silently.

It was dark and smelt damp. Seeing only from the light streaming through the door, she could make out discarded weapons and equipment littering the floor amongst some dried blood stains on the disintegrating carpets and rugs. Of course, the castle had been infiltrated by SSR, so there would have been a lot of action in here.

She reached back into her pack and pulled out the torch, turning it on and shining it around the entrance hall. She was honestly surprised she didn't see any skeletal remains scattered around, they would have looked very at home. She began walking further into the castle, noticing the images on the wall.

Red Skull. Seemed he really liked the look of himself, as his image seemed to feature a lot. She looked up at him thoughtfully. She wondered what the difference was between both their serums. Was it as Erskine suggested, they were each the difference in their results?

Lex continued on through the hallway, looking from side to side carefully, checking around a corner, while shining her torch down the end of the hall, and seeing it led back outside. She turned to the opposite side and saw a staircase that led down and further into the mountain.

She headed down the stairs, keeping a wary eye to the surrounds. The paint was peeling, stones disintegrating and falling from the walls, chandeliers had disconnected from the ceiling and glass beads were scattered across the floor. While she tried to be silent, it was actually quite hard in the old castle, but she pushed on.

The deeper she got into the castle, it became more noticeably modern, the old stone walls changing into a sleek metal, although it too was falling into disrepair and starting to fall apart. She saw many scorch marks along the walls and floors, as well as blood. The metal floors echoed the sound of her feet as she walked deeper into the castle, the noise unnerving.

As she approached a bend in the corridor, a strange mark on the wall caught her eye. It reminded her of a chip in concrete, but this was more like metal meeting metal with great force. She ran her fingers across it. These corridors appeared to be made from titanium, so it had to be an extremely strong metal to graze it like that.

She smirked when she realised what she was looking at. "Captain America," she murmured. She continued walking along the corridor, following the marks, and came across a closed door. "Well, this is inconvenient." She frowned.

Looking around, she found a large slip of metal that was pulling away from the wall, it was thin but strong. She managed to pull it the rest of the way off the wall with a bit of force. She slipped it in the gap between the doors, before pushing against it with all her strength. The gears of the doors began to grind free, allowing the doors a little freedom to move. But not enough.

She shoved a bit more, before slipping her hands into the small gap created. She pushed against the two doors with her arms, straining against the gears and springs that apparently still had some life in them.

"Come... on... aaarrgghh!" Finally, there was a crunch and the left door slid back enough for her to fit through. "Ah, nice."

She slipped through the door, finding herself inside a lab with a wall of windows that overlooked the Alps, but they were shattered with ropes hanging through them. The entry point for the assault, it would seem.

She looked around the lab, it looked like it had been tossed pretty well by the SSR. Any tech in the room had been stripped and only scraps of paper were left lying around, but she began to pick around the room, looking at anything she could find.

* * *

The sun was starting to set under the mountains when she finally sat down on a stool and considered the lab completely searched. There was nothing of value to be found here.

Frustrated and angry, she picked up a broken beaker, throwing it across the room and it smashed into a wall. She didn't even notice that she was bleeding from the glass cutting into her skin.

She sighed and stood, beginning to walk back towards the door, knowing she should start setting up a camp for the night before the frigid temperatures got out of hand for even her. She wasn't even half way towards the door when she heard a clicking sound coming from a wall.

She turned, unholstered her hand gun, and aimed it towards the sound. The clicking sound continued, before a projection of Zola appeared from the wall.

"Super Soldier serum detected. Strain... original. Recipient... Alexia Nikulkin... age at time of injection... 16 ... ordered by unknown HYDRA official in 1922... serum developed by ... Dr Abraham Erskine... results... undesirable."

Lex scowled at the projection as she approached it carefully, still holding her handgun ready for the worst. She moved to stand in front of the projection, looking up at Zola's face. His face reminded her of a bulldog, and that wasn't a compliment.

"Log entry - June 12, 1944. The original strain was considered volatile, after the subject broke free from her escort, killing all personnel present and began hunting further personnel of The Red Room Academy."

Lex grinned at the memory, one of the few of her old memories that regularly brought a smile to her face.

"In November 1940, Herr Schmidt used Dr Abraham Erskine's unstable serum on himself, while effective, it left...side effects. In 1943, I removed the chemical component that triggered the override of pain receptors during high stress situations in the original candidate, to ensure the next subject could not get out of hand again, and ensured that the third subject would be more complicit during my experimentation with my new serum in 1943. Subject three, one Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes of the 107th, would also commence tests for cerebral programming during this time."

Lex clenched her jaw. Bucky.

"Unfortunately, he escaped with the help of Captain America. I have not since been able to replicate the serum again due to the interference of Captain America, nor have I been able to reacquire previous assets to ascertain the success of these experiments. I have noted all these changes in my notes with references and dates. Log end."

Lex pursed her lips as she watched the projection disappear, standing still while she considered what to do next. She looked at the wall carefully where the projection had come from, seeing a tiny lens in the wall, but it was protected by a tile wall and god knows what else behind it.

She looked around the lab, before grabbing the metal stool she had been sitting on. She slammed it into the wall repeatedly, causing the tile there to shatter, revealing a small alcove, where the projector and camera were positioned, side by side.

* * *

Lex made her way to Switzerland, being careful to avoid any of the cities she had previously been travelling in with Steve or Bucky, and was currently residing in a hotel by Lake Constance.

Now resting after an exhausting day of travel, she sat by the window, playing with the Royal Bluebell flower in her hand. She was still stunned it had survived so long. She realised it must have had some unnatural properties, but the logical mind she maintained struggled to want to grasp it.

She stared at it, considering the information she now had found in regards to her transformation.

While she still didn't have all the answers she wanted, she certainly had some answers. And she had some for Bucky too, Shuri would be interested in seeing the projection.

As she stared at the flower, she considered what she should do next. She still had questions, but the girl in Belarus' words lingered on her mind.

' _It doesn't define us. Our past shouldn't define us'_

It was a nice thought, but could it apply to her? Should it apply to her?

Her past had made her. If it wasn't for her parents upbringing in Soviet USSR, her father's loyalty to the regime and her training, and then being administered with the Super Soldier serum, she wouldn't be who she was today.

Then again, she could be that and something else, couldn't she? Bucky was proof. He was a good man, with a good heart, but some bad words in his head that meant he was capable of terrible things at the hands of evil people. He was administered with a similar serum, and trained much the same, but when he wasn't triggered, he was fine.

Abraham Erskine believed that only someone with a good heart could have survived the transformation associated with the early serum that she was injected with, without horrible side effects.

As she thought of what Bucky had wanted to do after being forced to tell the doctor about the other HYDRA super soldiers, she recalled something Steve had said to her during his interrogation of her after escaping the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre.

'Well, that is a long time, you couldn't find something more to do than hide?'

Perhaps answers weren't what she needed.

She looked away from the flower finally, looking to her phone and contemplating what to do next. She picked up the phone, finding a missed call there. She opened it up to see a call from Shuri.

She checked the message left.

"Lex, we've got trouble here, I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to come back."

There was the sound of scuffling in the background of the audio, causing Lex to frown and stare at the phone, concerned about what could be going on in Wakanda. She had only been gone for just over two weeks.

While she took into consideration Shuri's warning, she was also itching for a fight. She looked at the Bluebell in her hand. Her mother had changed her mind. She hadn't returned to the USSR, she refused to be the bad guy anymore. Lex could do the same. The difference was, Lex had the means to stop anyone from stopping her.

She grinned then, before putting the flower back on the table beside her, before moving around her hotel room. She began packing her things in preparation to returning to Wakanda.

* * *

 **AAAYYYEEEE**

 **Bring on the action scenes again, this emotional and thoughtful stuff has been killing my brain cells...**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	17. Going Soft

**Happy weekend!**

 **Finally have a weekend where I'm not doing anything, so it's update time.**

 **Many thanks to BuckysWinterCaptain, XxHawkxX, Vicki219, Morgandodd99, Futago no Akuma Shimai, Yuudie for joining the adventure and all those that took the time to review :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Going Soft**

Lex picked up the jet she had left at a private airport not far from her hotel in Switzerland. She programmed the auto pilot to return the aircraft to its home base in Wakanda, before using the encrypted comms to try and make contact with Shuri.

"Lex, what are you doing?" Shuri hissed, but no image would show on the comms unit screen.

"I'm coming back, what's going on? Are Bucky and Steve okay, or has something happened to T'challa?" Lex asked in concern.

"Yes, yes, Bucky is still in cryo, and I've not heard from Captain Rogers, we have other issues at hand, that is why I told you not to return," Shuri whispered.

Lex narrowed her eyes, staring at the comms panel. "Why are you whispering?"

"Just don't come back right now, we have some...political... issues."

"You have a King, how the hell do you have political issues?"

"Just stay away, for your own safety, Alexia," Shuri stressed, before cutting the link.

Lex raised her eyebrows. "Did she? She stared at the comms panel for a moment, before checking the status of the line. "She just hung up on me." She tried to call again, but nothing. She was slightly perturbed, first for Shuri's use of her first name, which the teen knew very well she hated hearing even if she didn't know why, but also for hanging up. It occurred to her that there must be something serious happening.

She considered calling Steve to see if he knew what was going on, but she knew he would probably freak out about something happening in Wakanda with Bucky there.

Lex was going to have to do this by herself. Although Shuri had directed her to stay away, the Wakandans had done a lot for her, and for Bucky. She pursed her lips slightly, watching as the clouds slipped past the jet as it sped through the sky. "Ugh, I'm getting soft in my old age," she murmured. It was the right thing to do.

The problem was, it was very hard to get into Wakanda without being noticed, but then again, she didn't necessarily have to go unnoticed. She could just work to stay out of reach, and by the sounds of it, they might have been too busy with this 'political' problem too.

She looked determinedly at the programmed auto pilot, altering the final destination slightly, before ducking into the back of the jet to change. It was going to take a few hours to get back to Wakanda from Europe, so she thought it best to make sure everything was stowed safely for a bad landing, because she had a lot of precious cargo on board now.

After she'd changed and packed as much of her important cargo away into special lockers along the floor of the Quinjet, hoping they would protect the precious cargo, and she went through the bag she was going to carry with her. She reached inside to check what was already packed, feeling her fingers wrap around something delicate.

She pulled out the Royal Bluebell, it was still as vibrant as ever, no sign of wilting even after a full week. She sighed, admiring the flower for a moment, before reaching for her notebook and pressing the flower in between the pages before closing it again, dropping the notepad into a locker and sealing it shut.

* * *

The jet came in fast at the designated coordinates, clearing through the hologram. A radio call came through as she walked to the back of the jet, hitting the button to open the loading ramp.

"You have entered Wakandan air space, aircraft ID recognised, but pilot's details are listed as Top secret by order of T'challa of Golden Tribe, identify yourself."

Lex looked back at the front of the jet, seeing its trajectory headed for the snow capped mountains in the distance, to the East of the city, then looked back to the now open back of the jet, watching as the ground passed by beneath her at a very fast pace.

"Well, I'm sure Shuri enjoys putting me back together as much as I enjoy breaking myself," she muttered with a grim smile. Her short black hair whipping around in front of her as it was sucked out by the wind, while she checked her holster and small pack were secure to her thigh and back respectively.

She watched the landscape below her and took a few steps back from the edge, calculating the opportune moment, before starting a run up to jump as another call came through the radio.

"I repeat, by order of King N'Jadaka, identify yourself!"

She jumped from the jet, falling some seventy feet to the ground below, landing in a watering hole with a splash while the jet continued on, veering left and crashing closer to the city, hopefully buying her some time to find a place to lay low.

She emerged from the water, spluttering and pulling some water plants from her shoulder and head, before moving swiftly to get out of the water, very aware that there were several critters in the waters of Africa that didn't care about the fact she was a super soldier.

She climbed from the water, scaring a herd of Zebras away in the process before flopping onto the ground to catch her breath. She lay there for a few seconds, first of all, to take a moment to process if she had any pain anywhere, before considering that she had just jumped from a fast moving aircraft at seventy feet. As she lay there, something else occurred to her.

She sat up and looked towards Golden City. "Who the hell is King N'jadaka?"

Sensing that something very serious was amiss, she was quick to her feet then, seeing aircraft starting to take off from the city and ran to nearby bushland, checking to make sure her holstered handgun and pack were still accounted for as she went.

* * *

Lex kept to vegetation during the day, but she was well aware that someone was on her trail, although whether they were human or predatory animal was harder to tell. By night, she moved a lot faster, opting to head towards the mountains. As far as she could figure, Wakandans preferred the flat lands of the plains, so the mountains should be virtually uninhabited.

She followed a bubbling river along to the base of the mountain, stopping occasionally to drink the water. The snow on top of the mountains was obviously feeding the river, as the water was clear and cold. It took her most of the night, being sure to keep a fast pace, but she had no problem with tiring thanks to her enhancement.

Once she found the base of the mountain, she moved to begin the ascent to find somewhere to hide as day began to break over the mountain tops, until she could figure out how to gain access to the city and find Shuri.

As she went to climb, the sun was beginning to shine over the mountains and the glint of something metallic caught her eye from the other side of the river, where the mountainous terrain met the plains of the land.

She saw two men, seeming to be fisherman by the spears in their hands and the woven basket one carried. She pushed herself behind a tree, lowering herself closer to the ground to watch them. They were dressed more like wild men, rather than the Wakandan people she had seen or met in her short time in the city, as few as there were.

The two men seemed to be perplexed by something on the bank of the river as they crept towards it.

She craned her neck for a better look, seeing a man's body in the water by the river. He wore only a pair of black, traditional Wakandan short like garbs, many injuries visible on his body even from where she was standing, and he was bleeding profusely.

As Lex stared at the man in the water, the early morning rays of sun shining off a ring on a finger on his right hand, and it dawned on her that he looked familiar to her, although she was used to seeing him wearing much more clothing.

It was T'challa.

The two men began approaching him with their spears pointed towards him, and Lex was quick to her feet, sprinting back towards the river, lithely running across the rocks that poked above the fast current of water. She leapt the last few metres, landing in a crouched position on the bank in front of the men with her handgun drawn and pointed at them, much to their alarm as they jumped back.

"Back up. I can't see you throwing those things faster than I can put a hole in you," she warned. The two men looked from Lex to T'challa with confusion on their faces before beginning to back away, slowly, their eyes narrowing at the gun in her hand.

She watched them, making sure they were leaving, before she turned her attention back to the Wakandan King, re-holstering her gun. His eyes were closed and even for a man of his colour, his skin looked sallow and sickly. She touched his shoulder, trying to rouse him, but he was unconscious.

His skin was icy cold, which made her nervous. She stepped into the frigid water to get closer to him, touching her fingers to T'challa's neck and searching for a pulse. She was only mildly relieved when she felt the faintest of drumming against her finger tips. She checked over his body, there were copious injuries to the man, she suspected he had contusions all over his body, from either being beaten or a fall from a great height, there were cuts all over his body, and he appeared to have suffered great blood loss from them. She felt for his pulse again to be certain she had felt something. Indeed she had, but it was incredibly weak and she knew she needed to act fast.

She looked around, without medical aid she wasn't going to be able to save him, but she also didn't want to leave him in the water to chance him drowning to death instead.

She wove her arms under his shoulders, lifting him easily and pulling him further up the bank. Once there, she looked over his injuries more thoroughly. There was a deep gash and stab wound on his abdomen and another on his thigh, she would need to secure those quickly to prevent anymore blood loss.

She reached into her small pack, pulling out a Med kit, setting to work on the injuries. Whatever she could do was only temporary though, he needed a doctor to patch him up and that wasn't her.

Once she was certain he was patched up enough, she slid her pack onto her back again, before moving to T'challa, taking one of his arms in her hands and hoisting him up to drape him over her shoulders.

She had an idea on how to save his life, but she needed to move quickly.

Lex began making her way up the mountain, seeking out the easiest route up, without being seen. It was a struggle with a hundred kilos of dead weight across her shoulders, but she did her best, trying to ensure the ride was as gentle on T'challa as possible.

The sun had risen higher by now, which meant the Wakandan temperatures were too, but she knew she was getting closer to the summit as the temperature began to drop again, and sharply too.

Finally, after about an hour of climbing, she got her first glimpses of snow. She hurried further along until she found a decent amount, carefully lowering T'challa back to the ground. She quickly began piling snow onto all his body, covering his vital organs and around his injuries.

Once she was certain the snow covered all of his vital organs, she looked up to the sky. The sun was beginning to move across the sky and she knew the temperatures would continue to rise with it, and it would soon be the hottest part of the day. She needed to keep T'challa cold, so she started considering her options. She needed shade for him, as well as something to help keep him hidden. These injuries didn't come from high tea with friends, after all.

She had barely started looking around at the few trees for suitable branches to break down for a shelter when she heard movement from the west of the ridge she currently had T'challa resting on. She moved quickly to kneel in front of him protectively, pulling out her hand gun again.

A large man appeared from over the ridge directly adjacent to where she had buried T'challa in the snow, at the head of a small company of men. They wore animal furs and skins, carrying wooden weapons with sharpened tips.

Lex aimed her gun at the man leading, although she was very aware that while she could shoot him, she was also outnumbered by at least fifteen men, all of which carried weapons of some sort, although they appeared primitive at best.

The man narrowed his eyes at her as he stopped on the ridge, his company of men stopping behind him, but she didn't back down, staring straight back into his, daring him to make a move against her.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Who the hell are you?" she retorted, running calculations through her head of how many bullets she had, how many men there were and how many bullets she would need to take down the leader if it really came down to it. He was a big boy, it would be a challenge, but it would be a hell of a lot of fun too. She smirked slightly to herself.

"You dare speak to M'Baku, leader of the Jabari in such a manner?" he demanded angrily, raising his club towards her.

"The...what now?" She scoffed in reply, furrowing her brow. She hadn't exactly looked into the specifics of the Wakandan nation during her short stay. Maybe she should have.

M'Baku looked at her, dumbfounded. She saw him grind his jaw and it made her smirk, which she suspected made him angrier by the size of his eyes by then. His gaze slid to T'challa buried up to his neck in snow. "What have you done to T'challa?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing as he took another step towards her, his men following suit and pointing their spears in her direction threateningly.

Lex moved her aim to his feet, shooting one round into the snow. M'Baku jumped but didn't step back, much to Lex's surprise, instead appearing even angrier which she didn't think could even be possible. "You dare shoot at me?"

"You dare, dare me to? I just did it once," she retorted with an eye roll. "Stay away from T'challa or I kill you all, whether your his people or not."

The man faltered slightly. "You're an ally of T'challa? Why is he like this?"

She raised an eyebrow at the Jabari leader, he seemed somewhat concerned for the Wakandan King. "He's dying. If he's moved from the snow his heart might stop."

"What happened to him?" he demanded. Lex furrowed her brow. She wasn't sure what had happened while she had been away, and that made knowing who to trust incredibly hard, one part of her wanted to trust this man and his tribesman, but another didn't.

While she was contemplating how to answer, she heard a noise from behind her, instantly she was on her guard, turning her aim to behind her.

She reacted too late, as a man dressed much the same as those standing before her, lunged at her, knocking her gun from her hand with his spear. She was quick to counter though, dodging the sharp tip, knocking it upwards and punching the man sharply in the throat. She turned back in time to find several others running towards her from behind M'Baku.

She got to her feet quickly, ducking and weaving as they tried to subdue her with their weapons. She knocked the spear from one man's hands and into the air, throwing him back into the rock face of the mountain by his throat, before catching his spear and throwing it at another, making him dive out of the way.

She jumped as a man tried to swipe at her feet with a scimitar, kicking upwards at him as she did so and knocking him backwards. She parried a thrust of a spear and punched out another one who charged at her, dropping his spear as he fell backwards. She dove forward as a spear was thrown at her, avoiding it and picking up the discarded spear, before she rolled away from another tribesman who lunged at her with his scimitar, swiping wildly at air. She rolled back to her feet, throwing the spear in her hands with great force, it soaring through the air and covering a lot of ground quickly.

At the last second, the Jabari leader moved his head to the side, the spear missing its target by millimetres and imbedding into the trunk of a tree behind him.

Lex grit her teeth in annoyance, before she found she had been surrounded, all the men's spears and scimitars pointed at her in a close circle, the points of their spears and blades barely a millimetre away from her neck. These men were tougher than they looked, although they all carried wounds or injuries caused by her, none gave a hint of fear of her.

Lex licked her lips and glanced around, looking for a man to show a weakness under her glare, but they all appeared resolute, grim determination on their faces.

M'Baku strode towards her, an air of superiority about him, as she stood up from her crouched position, raising her hands into a surrender gesture, knowing she really couldn't compete against this many without a weapon and the King close by, dying. The circle of men stepped backwards and made a gap for him to walk through, and he approached Lex with a malevolent grin, stopping in front of her and leaning forward so he was right in her face.

"I don't know who you are, woman, or what you did to T'challa, but I will make sure you regret the day..."

Lex didn't hear him finish. Perturbed by his proximity to her, she threw her head forward, smashing into his face with her forehead.

He stumbled back, clutching at his face while Lex felt sharp pain, first to her right knee and closely followed by her left, collapsing forward. She laughed menacingly as M'Baku turned to look at her incredulously, pushing herself back to her knees and grinning maliciously at the bigger man.

"If you remove T'challa from the snow, you kill him, I kill you."

M'Baku glared at her, wiping blood from his mouth where she had hit him. He barked some orders at his men in a language Lex didn't recognise. Several of the men surrounding her removed their spears and turned, walking towards T'challa, Lex watching them carefully as they began to check over the King.

Lex was so distracted watching to ensure they didn't bring harm to the King, she didn't notice one of the men raise his fist behind her.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	18. Friend

**Hey guys,**

 **Ugh, this one was a tough one to write.**

 **Thanks to pandoraandamanda077, MysteryFlower101, JustCallMeWhatever, Lara Barnes, and LeoDaLion for joining the adventure and to the reviewers :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **Friend**

Lex was thrown to the floor after being bound for several hours in a dark cell. She looked around, her eyes adjusting to the light.

"Lex!" Shuri exclaimed bringing Lex's attention to the teenager, who was kneeling beside T'challa. He was still covered in snow, which brought Lex some relief. They removed the gag from her mouth, and Lex flicked her tongue a couple of times to remove the taste and dryness.

"Hhheeeyyy..." she said pushing herself up to her knees gingerly, feeling the ache in the back of her head still, her hands were still bound in front of her. "What's doing, kid?"

"I told you not to come back," Shuri replied moving to check on her.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't..." she motioned to T'challa lying in the snow with a nod of her head. "He wouldn't be here."

M'Baku moved to stand beside her. "You know this woman?" he demanded, hoisting her to her feet roughly. "We caught her with T'challa's body in the mountain by the pass, after she threatened some of my people. Among other things."

She grinned knowingly at M'Baku, evidence of her head butt still visible on his face. He glared at her before shoving her forward and causing her to fall to her hands and knees again, making her chuckle. He was stronger than many men she had met, she'd give him that much.

"Shuri, who is this woman?" the older woman of the group with the teenager, demanded as Lex rolled onto her back and sat up again, throwing a furtive glance towards them.

"She's Alexia Nikulkin, a wanted fugitive of the Joint Counter Terrorist Task Force," a familiar voice, with an American accent piped up. Lex grimaced at the use of her full name and looked across the room to see Everett Ross, the CIA agent from Berlin, standing by the body of T'challa.

"Well, quite a place for a reunion," Lex replied moving to stand. She winced slightly, moving her head to one side to try and alleviate some of the pain there.

"She is a friend of T'challa's," Shuri explained to the women kneeling by T'challa, before turning to look at Everett. "And she also helped bring our father's killer to justice."

Everett's eyebrows raised slightly at Shuri's words, glancing at Lex again. Lex smirked, before looking at the older of the women in front of her. She had to be T'challa's mother. Her dreadlocked hair was white, and she looked like she might be a very proud and stoic woman usually, but right now, she looked quite distraught and confused. She was looking at Lex with a strange look in her eyes, Lex had rarely seen directed at her before. It wasn't fear, or intimidation. It was a look she had only seen once before, from one other person, Bucky.

Gratitude.

Lex looked away from the woman quickly and back to Shuri. "How is he?"

"He's still alive, but I need to get him to my lab."

"Take him," M'Baku warned. "He'll be dead in seconds."

Lex nodded in agreement. "You can't move him, Shuri. Don't these guys have the facilities?"

M'Baku scoffed. "We do not waste our time with such novelties," he sneered, earning a look of disdain from Lex.

"Novelties?" Lex retorted incredulously, before looking M'Baku up and down. Since when was medical aid a novelty?

"There is only one hope," Shuri's mother murmured. She looked to a small woman by her side, who held out a glowing purple seed of some sort.

"What on earth?" Lex breathed, staring. She had seen a lot in her time, but nothing like that. T'challa's mother asked for some supplies to be brought, to which M'Baku obliged, much to Lex's surprise.

She watched as the seed was crushed up and turned into a liquid solution, before being fed to T'challa during some kind of strange ritual. M'Baku pushed her towards Everett roughly, glaring at her warningly when she went to argue, as T'challa was completely covered in snow by the three women.

She considered the ritual for a moment, before deciding it might be best to pay the respects to the Wakandan tradition and move away, walking to stand next to Everett, their attention diverted away from the ritual.

"So, T'challa is harbouring a highly sought after criminal ," Everett muttered under his breath. "Just the one?"

"No, he was healing a criminal, I left and only came back of my own will when I thought they were in trouble," Lex hissed in response, glaring at the American. "There's a difference."

They heard M'Baku clear his throat, both glancing towards the bigger Wakandan, who wore a scowl on his face at them. Lex shrugged, motioning to Everett who looked perturbed at the blame being put on him.

As the chanting continued behind them, Lex considered the American before her. What was he doing there? T'challa and his people were secretive about their resources to the point the whole of Golden City was cloaked from prying eyes.

She'd soon have her answer, as behind Everett and Lex, the prone, snow covered form of T'challa sat up suddenly, gasping for air and making Lex jump in alarm.

M'Baku laughed at her reaction, earning a scowl from her as she turned back around to see T'challa looking around wildly, Shuri and her mother quick to embrace the Wakandan.

* * *

After reviving T'challa with the 'heart shaped herb' as they called it, and T'challa requesting that Lex be released from her bonds, although M'Baku was disgruntled, he obliged, Everett and Shuri briefed Lex on all that had transpired while she was away, including how Everett had come to be there.

"So this... Killmonger, he's enhanced now, from the same thing that T'challa just had?" she asked curiously, as T'challa strode into the throne room where they were gathering. "His name sounds familiar." She thought about it, trying to place the name. She'd been approached by a lot of mercenaries in her time, rumours got around about her over the years. She racked her brain for the most recent of offers when one struck her.

"Why doesn't that surprise me, you bottom dwellers all know each other," Everett sneered, looking at her accusingly.

"Heh, hold up, no, he came chasing me to join his crew years ago, straight out of the military, I told him where he could stick it. I don't work for mercs, in case you hadn't noticed." She motioned to their current position.

"Anyway," Shuri resumed, looking pointedly at Everett. "He wants to spread Vibranium weapons throughout the world, we cannot allow that," Shuri said.

"And we will not." T'challa moved to greet Lex, taking her hand in a strong shake. "Thank you, my friend, for coming back in my time of need."

"Do me a favour, next time you want to go white water rafting, bring a raft." T'challa rolled his eyes at her. "But seriously, you help me, I help you, T'challa," Lex replied simply, before her lips moved upwards into a malevolent grin. "Besides, I heard there was fight to be had, and Berlin has left me craving action somewhat, after all this time." She glanced meaningfully at Everett, whose eyes widened at the Australian.

"Settle down," T'challa warned her, before looking to Shuri and his mother, Ramonda. He turned to the shorter woman, Nakia, a Wakandan spy, who had stolen the herb and gotten Shuri, Ramonda and Everett out of Golden City safely. "What is the situation?"

"Killmonger has the full support our military," she began as T'challa sat down to listen. "And he burned the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb."

"Of course he did." Everett looked from Nakia to T'challa. "That's what he was trained to do. His unit used to work with the CIA to destabilize foreign countries. They would always strike at transitions of power...like an election year, or the death of a monarch. You get control of government, the military..."

He trailed off, looking pointedly at T'challa. "Our resources," T'challa finished, a grim look on his face.

"Right," Everett agreed.

Lex pressed her lips into a thin line. She had been privy to some of the weapon's currently under development and Shuri and taught her a lot about Vibranium capabilities in her short time in Wakanda. It was both versatile, and dangerous.

"The Great Mound," T'challa continued, referring to the mountain that was the Vibranium mine that housed Shuri's lab and all the Vibranium.

"Our Vibranium and all my designs," Shuri gasped, her face showing grave concern.

"He will send our weapon's all over the world," Nakia warned.

T'challa sighed, looking to Nakia and Lex, before standing and glancing at his mother and sister "I want you to get Shuri and my mother out of Wakanda."

"What?" Both women demanded, Ramonda standing up abruptly and moving to stand before T'challa.

"What about you?" Shuri demanded.

"The challenge will have to continue," T'challa argued. Lex looked from the man to his family, considering them for a moment as they argued. The spy was silent the whole time, as was Everett. "It is my duty to keep you safe," T'challa said pointedly.

His mother stood and moved to stand in front of him, a look of grim determination on her face. "We will not leave Wakanda."

Lex was thoughtful for a moment, considering the situation and everything she had just been briefed on.

"Wwwaaaiittt, Wait, Wait a minute," Lex finally piped up, waving her arms around to get their attention. They turned to look at her expectantly, mild surprise on T'challa's face. "Shuri, you still got all that developmental tech in the lab?" Shuri nodded. Lex pressed her lips into a thin line and looked at T'challa pointedly. "If those weapons, tech and Vibranium leave the country, nowhere in the world is going to be safe for them, for you, or anyone else. Just consider that." She glanced at Nakia and Shuri. "You can't be at two places at once, and if he's got the military behind him, you need people who know what they're doing."

As she finished, Shuri stepped forward, pulling back the blanket draped around her shoulders and holding out a necklace of silver teeth, smiling warmly. T'Challa raised his eyebrows in surprise, before grinning at his sister. She stepped forward as he lowered his head to allow her to place it around his neck.

"The Black Panther lives," she straightened the necklace. "And when he fights for the fate of Wakanda, I will be right there beside him," she said matter-of-factly. Lex grinned, the little nerd had guts, that was for sure.

Nakia stepped forward too. "As will I."

Lex narrowed her eyes at the shorter woman, seeing an emotion in her eyes as she looked at T'challa. She raised her eyebrows slightly but said nothing when it dawned on her.

"Me too." Everyone looked at Everett in surprise. "What? You're going to need all the help you can get."

There was a scoff from the throne and all attention turned to M'Baku. "Are you done?" He mocked. "Are you done?"

Lex rolled her eyes at him, earning her a glare from the J'Abari leader. "What's wrong, big man, sad about being left out?"

"Watch how you speak to me, outsider," M'Baku growled at her.

"Or what? I already made you bleed, and you've already seen me better a lot of your men in combat, why don't you set foot in the battlefield, prove you're not all show?" She challenged, beginning to walk towards the J'Abari leader on his throne, smiling alluring towards him. He stood up, staring down at her.

"Alexia." T'challa's use of her full name brought her face to look at him with a scowl. "Enough."

She rolled her eyes, before looking at M'Baku again and batting her eyelashes as she turned and walked back down the steps to stand beside Shuri, who looked at her pointedly. She shrugged innocently and smiled.

"May I have a moment with Lord M'Baku?"

The J'Abari guards moved to escort them from the throne room, leading them to a small entrance hall. Lex stood a little away from the others, deep in thought as she considered how best to take action, looking out over the mountain city. She sighed, narrowing her eyes. They were going to be five against a whole army, as well as the Dora Milaje. Not to mention, dramatically under armed.

Shuri joined her. "I have an idea to get us an advantage against Killmonger."

Lex looked at her expectantly, grinning.

* * *

Lex and T'challa made their way towards The Great Mound together, having separated from Nakia, Shuri and Everett, who were going to try and infiltrate the labs and find a way to stop Killmonger exporting any weapons or Vibranium.

As they approached The Great Mound, seeing the spire that sat atop the lab appearing over the hill, T'challa donned his Panther habit.

"So, exactly how do you plan on catching their attention?" Lex asked, taking cover behind a large rock and peering around to see an aircraft taking off from the Vibranium mine entrance, flying in their direction.

"Like this..." She turned to watch as he jumped high into the air, slightly in awe. He leapt onto the jet, ripping into its engine bay with his Vibranium claws. The jet spluttered before exploding and crashing to the ground close to Lex's position. She shielded her face from the blast, the heat warming her face.

She lowered her arm and looked to the wreckage. "Ah, I see." Careful to stay hidden, she looked around the stone she was behind to see all the Wakandan's at the mine's entrance looking towards their position in confusion. She spotted one in particular that caught her eye.

"You've got Killmonger's attention, T'challa," Lex said with a smirk as she spotted a man wearing a rather traditional fur and gaudy gold necklace, a familiar grin on his face, staring out in their direction. She stood up and began to walk up the hill.

The smoke and fire from the jet billowed around them as T'challa climbed over the remnants of the jet, while Lex walked around it, moving to stand in front of it. She pulled the retractable stave from her back, watching as the Wakandans looked at her in surprise and suspicion. She spotted the General, Okoye, she had met her once or twice, as well as a few of the other Dora Milaje.

She flicked her wrist, opening the stave to full size easily. This one had been specially developed by Shuri and given to her before she left Wakanda. It was made with Vibranium.

"N'Jadaka!" T'challa shouted, retracting his helmet from the Panther habit as he stood upright on the remnants of the crashed jet.

"Wassup?" Killmonger shouted back, smirking smugly.

"I never yielded," T'challa shouted back, begin to walk towards the top of the hill, spreading his arms apart expectantly. "And as you can see, I am not dead!"

"All that challenge shit is over with!" Killmonger retorted, motioning to himself. "I'm the king now!"

"Typical American! Backing down from a challenge," Lex shouted with a smirk as she also walked up the hill, drawing his attention to her. "You're no Wakandan!" She glanced sideways at T'challa, giving him a wink. She knew Killmonger hated being called out, she'd done it to him before and they had nearly come to blows then.

"You don't belong here, Nikulkin, you're the outsider here!" Killmonger retorted.

"You're just as much an outsider as me, Erik!" She saw Killmonger's nostrils flare angrily, and the Wakandans around him glancing at each other questioningly, hesitating to continue what they were doing.

Killmonger looked around at them all. "Get those planes in the air! Carry out the mission!" he ordered. The soldiers began hurrying to continue their duties, moving crates into jets and preparing to depart to defend.

Lex touched the small dome attached to the back of her ear. "Now, Shuri, hurry."

"Copy that," Shuri radioed back. In the corner of her eye, Lex saw Shuri, Everett and Nakia duck up the rear of the labs, slipping inside.

Lex and T'challa continued towards the top of the hill, Lex watching Killmonger carefully as he turned to a man on his side. She read his lips, gripping her stave tightly and grinning malevolently. "Here they come."

Sure enough, the man beside Killmonger called his men to attention and they began to charge down the hill towards them. Lex began sprinting up hill, T'Challa streaking ahead of her. She was surprised when she saw a line of men form halfway down the hill from them, drawing their capes across their bodies and a line of high tech shields forming from them.

"Leave this to me, get ready," T'Challa warned, before he jumped high into the air, managing to leap above the half formed shield wall. When he landed on the other side, there was a massive expulsion of energy from his armour, causing the men to be thrown forwards, their shield wall disintegrating.

Lex grinned again as she leapt into the air, bring her stave down with great force, and beginning to fight her way through the attacking Wakandans.

She ducked as a Wakandan tried to swing his hooked blade at her, spinning her stave easily and knocking his feet from beneath him, before turning to block another strike behind her. She continued to duck and weave, counter attacking where she could, but they were somewhat outnumbered.

She looked back up the hill to see the Dora Milaje trying to fight against Killmonger. While he was outnumbered, he was proving to be far stronger than the four women. She planted a well timed kick, forcing another Wakandan to fly backwards into his counterparts and giving her the chance to make a run for it.

Lex charged up the hill, straight towards Killmonger as he managed to disarm one of the Dora Milaje, holding a blade to her neck. The General looked on in dismay, her eyes distraught as she looked at her subordinate, being held by Killmonger with a blade to her neck.

With Killmonger's attention on the three Dora Milaje in front of him, Lex launched herself high into the air.

"Wakanda Forever..." the Dora being held captive in his arms murmured, addressing her fellow Dora.

As Killmonger tensed his arm to finish her, Lex managed to slip her stave in between the blade Killmonger held and the Dora's throat, using her momentum to swing herself around. The blade moved away from the Dora's throat, and she was quick to slip out of his grasp as he turned his attention to the Australian who now swung her body around and kicked out at him with both her feet.

Killmonger was thrown backwards with great force, landing several metres away, as Lex fell to the ground, rolling quickly to her feet and crouching, a malignant grin on her lips, her tongue poking from her lips teasingly as she eyed the familiar American, her short black hair blowing slightly in the breeze. She was really beginning to enjoy herself.

* * *

 **OOOooooooohhhh she's just soooo...sigh**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	19. Play Time

**Hi guys,**

 **This fic might slow down a bit on the upload side of things now, as I'm struggling to come up with post BP content.**

 **Don't worry, I'm not giving up on it though. How can I? I love this character so much, she's nuts. Perhaps continuing on with my other fic 'Forgotten' will help me to, as I seem to be motoring through it right now. That seems to be how it works, I motor through one fic and the other slows down.**

 **Many thanks to UkkonenKissa, Lollypoplollypop, Rabbitz32, GhostDoor, chibichibi98, MoonlightWolf16 and to all my reviewers for enjoying the adventure so far.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **Play Time**

Lex eyed Killmonger as he jumped back to his feet, the tall Australian crouched low, reaching for the stave that she had dropped while intervening in the Dora's fight with him.

Killmonger sneered at her. "You should have stayed in the Bronx."

"You should have stuck to being a government dog," Lex murmured with a crooked smile, standing up again. She cocked her head to the side considering him for a moment. "You look absolutely ridiculous."

Killmonger glared at her, before re-engaging the helmet to his armour, the nanotech forming over his head in an instant as he launched himself at her.

She was about to counter attack when the four Dora appeared before her, working in perfect harmony, much to Lex's annoyance.

"Hey!" she exclaimed in annoyance as they each took turns to engage with Killmonger. She leapt through the centre of them, blocking his strike with her stave as he tried to knock away Okoye. She knocked away his arm, before blocking his following strike with her spare arm, and the Dora she had saved leapt forward and struck him in the chest with a well placed kick, causing him to stumble back.

The four Dora charged forward, locking their spears around him, the spears lighting up with an electric barrier around his neck. He shouted and writhed in pain, trying to find a way to free himself.

"Hold!" Okoye shouted to her fellow Dora before glancing sideways at Lex. "Outsider! Grab the necklace. Get it off him now!" Lex didn't need to be told twice, she moved quickly to try and grab the gaudy collar around his neck.

As her fingertips brushed against the golden necklace, Killmonger's hand grabbed her wrist. "I don't think so."

The next second, there was a massive blast that seemed to emanate from Killmonger's armour. It knocked all five women back, the four Dora were flung down the hill, while Lex was thrown back along the landing bay of the mine, precariously close to the edge.

She was quick to her feet as Killmonger ran at her again. She was now weapon-less as he slashed at her with his sharp claws causing her to duck and weave in an effort to avoid them. His sharp Vibranium claws slid past her face, slicing stray strands of her black hair, as she slid along on her knees in an effort to avoid his strikes.

She turned to face him again, getting to her feet to counter, but he threw a kick backwards and connected with her right shoulder, knocking her off balance. He turned, slashing his claws at her again, catching her cheek. She took a step back, her face turning away for a moment. She grit her teeth as she felt the blood seep from the gash now open on her cheek.

Killmonger stood up and grinned, watching as she straightened and touched her cheek. Lex looked at her fingers, to see the dark red substance staining her fingertips.

She grinned to herself, before looking back at Killmonger. "Oh, this is going to be fun." Killmonger ran at her again and she readied herself to receive his attack, her hands raised and ready as she smirked in anticipation.

She stepped back to avoid his swipe, blocking his following arm as he spun to try and connect with her. He was fast, quick to recover from his attacks and charge at her again. He swung a leg towards her, and she was quick to raise her arms to block it but was forced backwards with the strength behind it.

Killmonger capitalised, slashing at her again, the Vibranium claws causing sparks to fly from her own Vibranium armour as he slashed her across her front, and then her back as she turned to roll away.

Once she had rolled away and flipped back to her feet in an effort to put some space in between them, she was quick to turn and charge back towards him. She slipped between his guard; uppercutting him with her right fist before bringing a knee up to connect with his chest. He took a step back from the force of her kick, and she was quick to launch herself forward, using her legs to wrap around his body, restricting his arm movement and squeezing tightly as she tried to subdue him by cutting off his airways with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Oh you wanna play like that?" Killmonger growled, before activating his suit again.

The blast sent Lex soaring through the air yet again and she landed against the outer wall of the laboratories, crumpling to the ground.

Pain shot through her back and neck as pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, she shook her head to try and clear the cloudiness from before her eyes, Killmonger striding towards her and deactivating the helmet of his panther armour. "That shit is getting real old, real fast."

"Hey, pretty lady, wanna play some more?" he sneered as he stopped before her. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him, the cloudiness finally clearing as he reached down to grab her around the throat.

He lifted her up easily, Lex grabbing at his arms and trying to pull them away from her throat, but he was strong. She screwed up her face as she glared at Killmonger, still trying to free herself as he began to squeeze, lifting her high so her feet no longer touched the ground.

"I'm going to enjoy smacking that smile off of your face, wanker," she said snidely, and he began to squeeze harder with the hand around her throat.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she gasped, wincing slightly and gritting her teeth. She felt her airways starting close, closing her eyes and heard Killmonger laugh, which did wonders to make her angry. Her mind went blank, her body beginning to react on its own.

She grinned, opening her eyes and looking Killmonger in the eyes, before lifting a leg up and wrapping it around his neck, so her knee was across his face. She managed to spin her body around, so most of her body was now positioned over his arm, although Killmonger's claws dug into her neck. She dropped all her weight and forced him to the ground roughly. His grip on her neck weakened and she moved her head back roughly, pulling her neck free from his grasp, the pain from his claws biting into her exposed skin above the edge of her armour, causing her to grunt with the pain as she did so.

She kicked away from him, rolling a few feet away, before glancing back towards him.

Killmonger recovered and got back to his feet as Lex slowly stood too, watching the American as he grinned malevolently, the feel of blood dripping from her neck evident to her. But so were the barely audible sounds coming from the door that was now to his right.

"Well, I think I'm done playing," Killmonger said malevolently as he began moving towards her.

"Cool, me too."

The door opened, gaining Killmonger's attention, as Shuri and Nakia appeared and threw a black object towards her. She caught it easily, activating it and causing it to elongate with an ominous blue beam along its sides from either end of the dark Vibranium metal body. She was quick to charge at Killmonger as Shuri shot at him with her hand blasters and caused him to stumble backwards. Lex spun the stave in her hand and struck out at Killmonger, the blue beam glancing across his face and leaving a clean slice in his cheek.

She then spun her leg high, knocking Killmonger away from the door, hoping to put a safe distance between Shuri and the dangerous American.

"It took you two long enough!" Lex growled as she recovered, turning to face Killmonger again as he got to his feet, touching his face as the blood flowed from the cut on his face.

"We came as fast as we could!" Shuri retorted.

"Hurry up and access a jet! The weapon's are getting away," Nakia ordered Shuri, while she moved to stand next to Lex.

"I'm going, I'm going!" The teen retorted in annoyance as she turned and ran towards a waiting jet.

"You going first?" Lex asked Nakia, eyeing Killmonger as he glowered at the two women before reactivating his helmet.

"I thought you were?" Nakia replied, giving Lex a sideways glance.

"Chicken."

"What?"

Lex charged forward, swinging her stave first in one hand and then switching hands as she approached Killmonger, who ducked and weaved as she struck out at him. She tried to sweep his feet out from underneath him but he easily leapt into the air, kicking out at her and connecting with her side.

"Wakanda forever!" Nakia shouted as she charged in, throwing her ring blade at Killmonger. He easily leapt over the blade and tried to strike at Nakia, but she slid along the ground to avoid his sharp claws.

"Ross has the jet," Shuri announced over the commlink.

Lex regathered herself, now they just needed to make sure Killmonger couldn't get to Everett, she began moving to block and evade Killmonger's attacks. She ducked and weaved quickly, avoiding his claws as best she could, Nakia fighting by her side.

While she was fast and strong, so was Killmonger, but Nakia was not. Lex was knocked to one side by a rogue punch from Killmonger and Nakia tried to take advantage at his distraction, leaping forward with her Vibranium powered rings. She managed to disarm Killmonger of his weapons, before she jumped up to bring her ring blades down upon him, but Killmonger caught both her wrists.

"Ahah, not today," he growled malevolently, throwing her backwards and slashing at her leg, his Vibranium claws cutting into her thigh.

Lex turned as she heard Nakia scream in pain, spinning her stave expertly and charging back at Killmonger. She leapt in front of Nakia who was stumbling backwards, bringing her stave down fiercely at Killmonger, but he easily blocked it. Lex was quick to counter, spinning her stave again, connecting with both his sides before kicking out at him and forcing him to step backwards. She jumped into the air, looking to bring her weapon down on his head, but he recovered quickly from her previous attack, catching the stave in both his hands.

He brought his knee up into her chest, knocking the wind from her chest and by the feel of it a rib was broken, before tossing her easily. Lex was thrown into Nakia and both fell backwards, losing her stave in the process.

Lex was quick back to her feet, looking at Nakia struggling to regather herself. "He's too strong for you." She looked over to see the Dora fighting against the Border Tribe, they were vastly outnumbered. "Go and help them, I'll deal with this bastard."

Nakia nodded before getting to her feet and hurrying to join the skirmish with the Border Tribe and Dora Milaje.

* * *

Lex returned her attention to Killmonger and saw Shuri trying to hold him off with her hand blasters, the Vibranium blast seeming to warp his armour. It was making it unstable. He was getting closer to Shuri though, managing to push through the blast.

Lex charged back towards him, as he grabbed Shuri's right blaster, crushing it in his hand and pushing Shuri to the ground.

Killmonger glowered down at Shuri. "What's up, Princess?"

"You will never be a true king!" Shuri shouted defiantly, as she looked up from the ground at Killmonger. He grinned malevolently at Shuri, before moving to reach down for her.

"Uh uh!" Lex growled, launching herself at him, grabbing him about the head with both hands and throwing him backwards, causing him to land on his back with a thud. She lunged down at him, straddling him as she punched at him repeatedly. "Get away, Shuri!"

"I can't leave you!" Shuri retorted, trying to get to her feet.

"Oh, she won't," Killmonger growled, before blocking a punch from the enraged super soldier. He caught her second hand, before pulling her arm outwards roughly and throwing her overhead. She managed to land on her feet, but Killmonger still had hold of her arm. She tried to kick out at him but he knocked her leg away, before grabbing her around the throat as he had before. She felt immense pain as his claws dug into her already opened wounds.

"Did you forget, I never fail a mission," he hissed, bringing her face closer to his as he squeezed around her throat, while still maintaining his grip on her arm.

"You're delusional," she replied, before glancing sideways, gasping for air as she began to grit her teeth and wince from the pain of her windpipe being crushed along with her open wounds.

Killmonger retracted his helmet, glowering at Lex's face, drawing her attention back to him. "I got one thing to say to you before I finish my last mission..."

Lex raised her eyebrows, before she began to grin malevolently.

In a flash, she quickly moved without warning, seeming to regain all composure and strength. With the one hand she had free, she aimed a punch right at his throat, before lifting both feet off the ground and kicking them into Killmonger's midsection. The shock of the punch to his throat, which took his breath away, loosened his grip of her, while the force of the kick to his body gave her enough momentum to free herself from his grasp.

As Killmonger stumbled backwards, there was a blue Vibranium blast as Shuri shot at him with her one working blaster, followed by a black blur, as T'challa tackled him, both Killmonger and T'challa falling into the mine below.

Lex fell to the ground with the effort of fighting off Killmonger, but was quick to roll to her side, looking down towards the bottom of the mine, watching as T'challa and Killmonger fought their way down, before coming to a crash on the tracks below. "What? You wanted to say something?" she shouted down. "Asshole."

* * *

Shuri ran to Lex's side as she regathered herself, her neck was currently in agony, and she was covered in her own blood. Her moves were becoming sluggish and she was growing weaker.

"Lex! We need to get you healed," Shuri exclaimed. Lex looked down at herself quickly, assessing her body's functions. Her rib was still hurting, her neck was in agony and she was struggling to breathe slightly. She knew she would have to push through it as she observed the fighting around them. However, she didn't have time to dwell on it, as a rather large rhino charged up the hill, knocking Dora Milaje and Border tribe army alike, out of its path.

"No time," Lex replied getting to her feet, and pushing past the Wakandan princess.

"Shuri! Turn on the train on the bottom track!" Came T'challa's voice over the comms.

"The stabilisers will deactivate your suit! You won't have protection!" Shuri argued, moving to look down into the mine.

"Neither will he!" T'challa responded.

"Do it!" Lex shouted back as she ran, picking up her discarded stave as she ran down the hill.

Shuri furrowed her brow slightly, but hit one of her Kimoyo beads. "Right!"

Lex ran towards a group of Border Tribesmen who were attacking two of the Dora Milaje, and easily disarmed them, knocking them back, only for more tribesman to charge at them. "Oh crap, they're multiplying!"

Shuri was quick to pick up a discarded Dora spear and move to help Lex, defending her back as she took on four tribesmen at once. Even as she subdued them easily, more made their way towards them.

"Move towards the Dora, safety in numbers," Nakia ordered, also appearing on her other side and beginning to fight her way towards Okoye.

"That only works when the numbers are even!" Lex retorted, grabbing a Border Tribesman by his cloak and flinging him over her back as she continued to spin her stave. They turned to see a rhino charging towards them. "Shit." They were quick to dive out of its way. Shuri was dragged towards Okoye by Nakia, while Lex rolled back to her feet, turning to watch the rhino running down the hill, a cunning smile appearing on her face. "Ooohh." She sprinted away down the hill.

* * *

The Dora Milaje, Shuri and Nakia were backed into a circle, surrounded by Border Tribesman with their shields activated. Okoye and Nakia exchanged panicked looks, as W'Kabi rode to a stop on his war rhino before them.

"Surrender now! You have three seconds to lay down your weapons!" W'Kabi demanded, looking straight at Okoye. She stared back at him in exasperation, the other Dora glancing at her for orders. "One! Two!"

W'Kabi stopped counting, hesitating as he looked around in confusion, the sounds of grunting drifting over the afternoon breeze. Nakia and Okoye also looked around, the corners of Nakia's mouth lifting slightly as she recognised the sound.

Suddenly, to their right, a Border Tribesman was lifted easily, high into the air, by a grinning M'Baku, who stood proudly atop a large boulder. "Witness the might of the J'Abari first hand!" M'Baku shouted as the Border Tribesman he held looked fearful of the large warrior.

Okoye and Nakia grinned, while Shuri whooped, waving the spear she held in the air excitedly. M'Baku threw the man aside, while the rest of the J'Abari appeared and began attacking the border tribe, knocking down W'Kabi's men and deactivating the shield wall around the Dora, Shuri and Nakia.

Okoye and her Dora were the first to rush out and fight side by side with the J'Abari, while Nakia hung close to Shuri, knowing it was still her duty to keep the teen safe.

M'Baku made his way towards them, easily fighting off Border Tribesman on his way. "Are you two alright?" he asked looking down at the two smaller women. They both nodded in response, and M'Baku furrowed his brow and looked around the battlefield. "Where is the crazy woman?" he asked, swinging his club and knocking a Border Tribesman away from Shuri easily.

"Huh?" Shuri was confused for a moment, before it dawned on her who he was talking about. She stopped and looked around the field of battle, trying to spot the dark hair of the super soldier who would usually stand out very easily. "Lex? Where did she go?"

Suddenly, there was a roar and shouting, as another war rhino came charging through the throngs of fighting Wakandans, enraged as it charged with its head down and knocking down anyone in its way. It turned as it ran, altering its direction so it was now running straight towards them.

"Shuri, get ready to run," Nakia warned. M'Baku also tensed, ready to move with the two smaller women.

Before they could react at all, there was another roar, followed by an excited shout. They all turned to see another rhino charging through the battlefield, Lex on its back and holding on tightly as the rhino bucked and bellowed.

"Incoming!" she shouted, using a length of cable wrapped around the rhino's horn as a way to control the rhino's direction. "I literally have no idea what I'm doing right now." Her rhino charged towards the rogue rhino, Lex moving to stand further down on its back, awkwardly balancing on the galloping behemoth, as it drew closer to intercepting the rogue rhino.

"She really is crazy," M'Baku breathed in awe, watching as the rhino steamed past them. He furrowed his brow. "They're going to collide, she's going to be hurt!" He began moving to pursue the rhino Lex rode.

* * *

She was certain this had to be one of her worst ideas ever, riding a rhino was nothing like riding a horse, not that she was technically riding it. She clutched onto the cable, pulling it off to one side to alter the rhino's direction slightly, wanting to make sure she made a direct hit with the rogue rhino. Once they were on the verge of crashing, Lex made her move to leap from the rhino. She jumped off, shutting her eyes as she expected to eat dirt, hard, but much to her surprise, she was captured in a strong set of arms. The only pain she felt was the jolt of her being caught on her suspected broken ribs and her opened wounds.

She opened her eyes and looked up to see large dark brown eyes, laced with concern and mild amusement staring back down at her, a big grin appearing on M'Baku's face. "Aaah!" she exclaimed in surprise, jumping slightly as she realised where she was. She looked around to see he had captured her easily, her cheeks heating in embarrassment at being caught by the arms of the J'Abari leader. "What the hell, man?"

"You crazy woman!" he shouted in amusement, before putting her back on the ground. "That was both dangerous and courageous! But I will not be outdone!" He turned and charged back towards the fighting J'Abari.

She watched him knocking away Border Tribesman as he continued to fight his way through the throngs of attackers, a confused look on her face. "He's a strange man," Lex murmured under her breath, shaking her head as she took the stave from her back and turned to fight off the approaching Border Tribesman.

* * *

 **Lets be honest, we've all wanted to ride a rhino after seeing them in Black Panther, right? Or was that just me?**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	20. Next Steps

**Okkkaaayyyy...**

 **So, the exciting stuff winds down, and its boring babbling and touchy feely stuff...ugh.**

 **But, you can't make a good story without some of that stuff, right? And holy hell, this chapter is a bit longer than I thought! Whoops...**

 **Anywho...many thanks to Mayakramer5, Lost it Never Had it, xuanny, maryb1439, Piper and Snippy, Werefoxz, UmbreonGurl, and Mad Matryoshka for joining the journey.**

 **And also to all my reviewers, thanks guys.**

 **Just on a side note, for reviewers, I love hearing from you guys, so thanks for that, but generally, if you're asking questions about future storyline/plot etc, I'm not going to answer it. Sorry, not sorry :P**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 **Next Steps**

Lex fought her way over to Shuri and Nakia, knocking away and disarming Border Tribesman with ease, but she could feel her energy beginning to wane as her continued blood loss took its toll.

A Border Tribesman attacked her with his scimitar, causing her to duck, but his quick kick to her knee caught her unguarded and she collapsed to the ground. Her only saving grace was M'Baku appearing before her and knocking the tribesman away easily, sending him flying through the air and into some of his comrades.

M'Baku turned to look at her, bending down to analyse her face as he helped her to her feet again. "You are very pale." She narrowed her eyes at him, considering whether she should let her smart mouth loose on him. "More so than usual, that is."

She sighed as she pulled the arm he held away from, taking a step away to distance herself from him. "I'll be fine." He turned and knocked away another Tribesman as Lex raised her guard for another that charged at her. She had barely disarmed him and knocked him away when there was the sound of thundering hooves.

Both Lex and M'Baku turned towards the sound to see another war rhino, charging straight for M'Baku. Atop its back, was W'kabi, the Border Tribe's leader.

"M'Baku!" Lex shouted, calling his attention from the impending attack. She grabbed his arm. "Give me a leg up!"

"What?"

"Just do it!" If she could get W'Kabi on the ground, she could at least put a stop to the Border Tribe. M'Baku quickly turned to face her as she took a few quick steps back for a run up. "As soon as I'm up, run."

"The Jabari never run."

"Suit yourself, flattened by a rhino will look great on a headstone," she retorted before sprinting straight towards him. She launched herself into the air when she was a few feet away and he caught her foot easily, thrusting her backwards again.

She turned in the air, to face the direction of the rhino, her stave in hand and ready as she soared upwards, over the rhino's sharp horn.

W'Kabi tried to pull his scimitar from its sheath, but it was too late, as Lex brought her stave down to knock him from his mount. She landed with a roll, before quickly turning to see W'Kabi falling to the ground heavily and rolling several times.

Lex looked towards the charging rhino, to see M'Baku hadn't taken her advice and ran out of the rhinos charge. He stood, ready to try and take on the rhino. "Move, M'Baku!"

When the rhino was barely a few metres away from hitting M'Baku, Okoye appeared in front of the Jabari leader, causing the rhino to skid to a stop, halting only centimetres from her face. Lex watched in utter astonishment as it then licked the Dora Milaje general's cheek. Lex cringed at the action. "Ew."

She turned her attention back to W'Kabi, glaring at her and moving to get back to his feet, his hand moving to his scimitar. Lex hurriedly stumbled to her feet, her sight becoming blurry as she fought against the urge to succumb to her blood loss.

He drew his scimitar as Lex moved towards him, slashing it across her, but it glanced harmlessly off of her armour. She hit his sword arm with her stave, causing him to withdraw it, only for him to try and strike at her again. She blocked it with her stave again, this time kicking out at him, forcing him backwards and flicking the end of her stave upwards at the scimitar, knocking it out of his hand.

She held her stave at his throat, the blue Vibranium beam just centimetres from his skin. She could barely see the Wakandan now, just making out the outline of him, her vision completely blurred as she squinted and panted heavily at the effort to stay conscious.

In her ear, she heard Ross over the comms. "We did it!"

"Great, now get out of there!" Shuri ordered him over the comms.

Lex tried to focus on W'Kabi in front of her. "Drop your weapon," she ordered gravely, looking at him pointedly.

W'Kabi glared at her, before his gaze shifted to Lex's left, his glare softening. "Would you kill me, my love?" She was confused for a moment, before Okoye appeared beside her, moving to stand in front of Lex. She gently pushed Lex's stave out of the way with her own spear, not taking her eyes from W'Kabi.

"For Wakanda?" She raised her spear at him, the pointed end of the weapon at him, a fierce look on her face. "Without question."

Lex released a sigh of relief as W'Kabi raised his hands in the air, showing his surrender. She retracted her weapon, attaching the now deactivated stave to the magnet on the back of her armour, before turning to walk away.

She had barely taken a step, when everything went black.

* * *

Lex's eyes slowly flicked open, the bright lights blinding her for a moment. She blinked a few times, to try and clear her vision and get used to the light. Eventually her vision returned and she was able to see her surrounds. She was in the medical wing of Shuri's lab, again. She sighed and shook her head slightly, which apparently was a poor decision.

Pain shot through her neck and she hissed, wincing and lying still again as she waited for the pain to subside, before groaning.

"Damn it, you shouldn't be awake yet," came Shuri's voice. Lex shifted her eyes sideways, careful not to move her head, to see Shuri hurrying over. "I hate how your body burns through drugs so much faster than the normal person."

"Well, gees, sorry for being awesome," Lex murmured as Shuri began to check her over. Shuri began checking her neck, moving bandages and pressing buttons on the healing table. "How long have I been out?"

"Not long enough," Shuri replied, continuing to fiddle with Lex's bandages. Lex glanced sideways at her pointedly. "It's been a few hours."

"Killmonger?"

Shuri sighed, her face showing signs of regret mixed with relief. "Dealt with."

Lex gave the teen a sympathetic smile, before looking around the lab. "Where is everyone?"

"Trying to clean up the mess, M'Baku and his tribe returned to the mountains, although he did ask of you before he left," Shuri answered, a sly smirk appearing on her face. Lex raised an expectant eyebrow. "I think he likes you."

Lex tried to show her disgust, but even the act of scowling hurt. "Ugh, seriously?"

Shuri laughed heartedly, before moving to walk away. "You need at least another two hours on the table. You can either sleep or I'll put you under, it's your choice."

Lex tried to move different parts of her body, tensing muscles to see how fatigued or injured they were. She winced again, realising Shuri was most likely right. "A nap sounds good."

It took her no more than twenty four hours to recover, thanks to her super soldier serum advancements and Shuri's healing table. She was now seated in the lab, letting Shuri draw blood again, as well as doing a final check over of her injuries.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took some blood immediately after the battle to see if I could analyse the changes in your body when in battle," Shuri murmured as she worked. "I'll analyse the data recorded on your Kimoyo beads too."

"That ought to be interesting," Lex replied with a mock yawn, earning a glare from Shuri. She was well over trying to find out how she differed from the others, but the teen was curious, so she had no qualms letting her do what she wanted.

"I went over the material you brought back while you were recovering too," Shuri began as she finished up taking her blood.

"Ah, yes," Lex replied with a sigh. Nakia had been kind enough to lead a small contingent of men to gather her things from the downed jet outside the city. "I'm guessing you found it about as useful as I did?"

"It was interesting, to say the least," Shuri replied as she carefully labelled the vials of blood. "But as for usefulness to your situation, you're right, there really isn't much. The information about Sergeant Barnes could be useful though. I think I can finally take steps to help him now," Shuri said thoughtfully, sitting down on a stool on the opposite side of the work bench to Lex. "There is plenty of information about how the doctor made Sergeant Barnes compliant, his methods and procedures, so I'll put together a program to restart his brain without compromising him."

Lex was thoughtful for a moment, considering how Bucky's brainwashing was activated. "What about the words?"

"You mean the words that trigger him? Yes, they're in there too. I'll have to work on my Russian," Shuri said thoughtfully, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"I can help with that, but it's dangerous, Shuri. When he gets triggered, it can take me and Steve to subdue him. You can't be doing it willy nilly," Lex warned.

"Of course, I'll make sure the proper precautions are taken."

Lex considered the teen for a moment, before looking thoughtfully out the window of the lab. "Well, that's something at least," Lex replied with another sigh. She was strangely relieved that the information she had found on Bucky's transformation to the Winter Soldier was proving useful. It was like she was overwhelmed with a sense of satisfaction. It confused her momentarily but she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Perhaps we should look for more information, elsewhere? Maybe we can find a HYDRA base that is holding that information that's missing?" Shuri suggested, looking hopefully at Lex. She had misread Lex's expression as dismay.

Lex shook her head ruefully. "No, kid, finding out what they put in me isn't going to change anything. We know that whatever it is made me stronger and angrier, but it's not going to change anything. If anything, perhaps it's better left unknown?" If Shuri figured it out, and somehow that information fell into the wrong hands, it would be the Winter Project all over again, and that wasn't a thought that Lex welcomed.

Shuri looked apologetically at Lex, before nodding in understanding. "That is true, I suppose, still, I can start working to help Sergeant Barnes, there was other useful information on the projector you brought back."

"Glad to hear it."

Shuri gave Lex an appreciative smile, before picking up the vials and leaving Lex to her own devices. Lex considered her own words to Shuri. It really wouldn't change anything, and if someone were able to get their hands on that information, the world could be in a lot of trouble.

She moved to leave the lab, but found T'challa standing before her, looking down thoughtfully at her. "Isn't there a saying in your country where if you keep pulling faces like that the wind will change and it will be stuck like that?"

Lex narrowed her eyes and scowled. "What?"

T'challa chuckled before looking at her seriously. "My sister tells me the information you brought back was less than enlightening for you."

It was a statement, not a question, so she nodded. "True, but it will help Shuri with Bucky's treatment, so it's not all bad, I suppose."

"So what will you do now?" He asked curiously, folding his arms across his chest.

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. She sensed he wanted to ask a different question. "What do you want, T'challa?"

He raised an eyebrow before grimacing slightly. "Is it so bad to be curious?"

"Curiosity killed the cat..." she began to smirk slyly, causing T'challa to frown at her, the underlying pun not lost on him, clearly. "What do you want?"

He looked at her pointedly. "You are welcome to stay. You can live here without fear of persecution. I plan on offering the same to Sergeant Barnes." Lex screwed up her face as she considered his offer. While it was tempting, there was much to consider.

T'Challa had just returned from meeting with the UN, announcing that Wakanda would finally open its borders to trade, which meant all eyes would now be on Wakanda. While it wouldn't be hard to hide in the plains surrounding the major city, it would still hold an element of risk, all eyes would be on Wakanda in the coming months.

On top of that, she had spent so many years under the radar, moving from city to city, country to country, she itched to move on. Particularly after Bucharest, she had risked staying there longer than a year, and it had been the major reason she had ended up in Wakanda to begin with.

"Thank you, T'challa, but I can't risk hanging around too much longer." She bowed her head slightly in thanks. "I'll stay to help Shuri with the initial stages of Bucky's treatment, but then I'll probably head out again, it's been long enough since my last run in with the law." She winked and grinned at the Wakandan King, who returned the smile in kind.

"You'll always be welcome back," he replied, before a sly grin appeared on his face. "Especially in the mountains, from what I hear."

She narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils slightly at the thought of the Jabari leader who had caught her in his arms after she had leapt from the back of a war rhino. Shuri had also mentioned that he seemed to have taken a shining to her.

"Seems like even more reason to leave, to me."

T'challa chortled as he began to walk away, leaving her to stew in embarrassment.

* * *

Lex sat on the edge of the mine's landing bay, watching out over the plains of Wakanda. It was hard to believe that less than a month ago, there was a battle there.

She had survived through times of war before, but she had never actually fought in a battle herself, often avoiding all conflicts during her time. She had lived through the First World War, and the second, as well as countless civil wars. However, in all those times of conflicts, she kept her distance far and away from any battlefronts.

While wars raged on in Europe and the Middle East, she had resided in the US and Asia. When it reached Asia, she shifted to South America, constantly keeping ahead of the conflict. It was certainly strange, to think that humans would take each other's life over such simple ideals, or because someone told them to. And now, where many had fought and fallen, there was nothing, no sign of conflict. Just a vast open space.

Lex sighed, watching as a breeze made the long grass of the plains seem to shimmer and ripple.

She needed to consider her next steps, where could she go and what could she do. It was going to be hard to slip back into the outside world again. Whether that was because now she had more people looking for her, or because she had been given a taste of her days of old, she wasn't sure. Or perhaps, it was because she had found some people who accepted her for what she was, where she didn't need to hide her true identity or personality.

"Got to do, what I do," she murmured, wrapping her arms around her legs.

Behind her, Lex heard the laboratory door swing open, small and light footsteps creeping along the metal path towards her.

"Yes, Shuri?"

"Eh, how did you know it was me?" she demanded, appearing beside Lex.

"You're the only one dumb enough to try and sneak up on me," Lex retorted, earning her a scowl from the Wakandan princess. "So what do you want?"

"I just thought I would come and see how you're going, T'challa told me you're going to leave?" Lex smirked slightly, as she glanced sideways at the teen. Is that what puppy dog eyes look like? "But, why?"

"Um, because being a lab rat is only fun for so long. And, aren't you going to the US soon anyway?" Lex asked pointedly. Shuri seemed to pout as she looked away. "I can't stay in one spot too long, kid, I've been moving from spot to spot since I was your age."

"Are you ever going to tell me what it was like?" Shuri asked curiously. The teen was still hung up in knowing about Lex's past, but there was no way she could bring herself to tell the teen.

"Nope."

Shuri rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Well, I thought I should tell you, I think I finally figured out a rehabilitation program to help Sergeant Barnes."

Lex turned and looked Shuri dead in the eye. "Yeah?"

Shuri nodded. "It will take some time, but I think I can get started with the information you brought back. The initial weeks will be the hard work, including testing those words they used. After that, it should be a little easier."

Lex pressed her lips into a thin line before nodding, feeling a strange sense of excitement. It was baffling for her, to feel such excitement over something that really had no real affect on her personally. "Alright, I guess we should wake up sleeping beauty soon then?"

"I'll need at least a week to prepare the material necessary, among other things, and we need to call Captain Rogers."

"Oh yes, the boyfriend." Lex grinned mischievously as Shuri chuckled heartily. "I'll call him, you can start preparing what you need. We should tell your brother too." Shuri nodded, before standing up and walking back towards her lab.

Lex looked back out over the plains, as the sun was beginning to set beneath the mountains on the horizon, her thoughts drifting back to her first encounter with Bucky in Bucharest. Seeing the fear in his eyes back then, reminded her of her own fears of so many years. It had taken a long time to get past them, and feel comfortable with herself. The events of the last few months had complicated things, but perhaps it was for the best.

She scoffed lightly, before getting to her feet, turning her back on the sunset and returning to the lab.

* * *

As expected, once Shuri was ready to wake Bucky, and Lex called Steve, it didn't take him long to return to Wakanda. It was only a matter of hours, as opposed to days, much to Shuri's chagrin as she handed over money to Lex while they watched Steve disembark his Quinjet.

"Captain Rogers, welcome back," T'challa greeted.

"Thanks, it's good to be back," he replied coming to a stop in front of the Wakandan King and shaking his hand, before sliding his gaze over to look at Lex. "Lex."

"Rogers." She gave the smallest of smiles, before cocking her head to one side and looking into the back of the Quinjet. She furrowed her brow. "Where are the others?"

"In hiding. Figured it was best if I come alone," Steve replied honestly. Lex frowned slightly before shrugging. Steve appeared to have let himself go in the appearance department. His hair was longer and he obviously hadn't shaved in awhile. A small beard that seemed so out of place on the usually clean cut super soldier adorned his face. Other than that, his sense of fashion still seemed stuck in the forties. "I like the hair," he commented, motioning to her with his hand. She raised an eyebrow but didn't respond, noting he still seemed somewhat nervous around her.

Steve looked to Shuri next. "So, you think you can do it?"

"Yes, thanks to Lex's discoveries, I have found how Doctor Arnim Zola was able to control Sergeant Barnes and now I'll be able to reverse the process," Shuri answered matter-of-factly, her excitement evident in her voice.

Over the last month, Lex had seen Shuri get more and more excited and motivated in her research of Bucky's cerebral calibration reset. At times, the teen would ramble on for hours to her, although Lex was never actually listening to most of it. She would just nod occasionally as required.

"Lex's discoveries?" Steve asked in confusion, looking from Shuri back to his fellow super soldier.

"We should perhaps head inside to discuss these matters?" T'challa interjected quickly, motioning towards the lab entry. Shuri led the way inside and she, along with T'challa began to quickly explain to Steve what had happened after he left.

Steve looked at Lex severely. "You left the safety of Wakanda?"

Lex was taken aback by the tone Steve used, but was quick to respond in kind. "Don't take that tone with me, Steve. Unlike you, I'm very adept at going under the radar, and I got the job done."

Steve narrowed his eyes at her, but T'challa spoke before the Captain could continue reprimanding her. "If it wasn't for Lex's skills at espionage and infiltration, finding a way to help Sergeant Barnes recover may have taken much longer."

Steve considered T'challa for a moment, before looking apologetically at Lex. "Fair enough, I suppose. But you really should stay here; it's far too risky to be out there right now. Bucky would be annoyed if anything had happened to you."

Lex raised an eyebrow at Steve's change of tact, and pulled a face. "He'll have to get over it. I'll do as I please, when I want. Don't be mistaken for thinking that because I got involved in your little spat with Stark that I'm suddenly a subordinate, Steve. Far from it, in fact." She was quickly growing annoyed at the Captain's strange urge to be over protective of her. It was severely misplaced, and most importantly, unwanted.

Steve furrowed his brow but replied in resignation. "I see."

"Uh," Shuri spoke up, moving to stand between the two super soldiers, clearly trying to ease the tension between them. "If I may, I'll explain the treatment I have planned?"

"Sure," Steve said, looking away from Lex and at the teen expectantly.

* * *

Lex stood watching the sunset over the Wakandan Mountains from the landing bay of the labs, it's orange glow bathing the flat plains and giving it a mystical aura.

She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. She'd made her plans to leave in the coming couple of weeks. She was returning to Australia for the first time since she was a child, it was the least likely place that she would be recognised now. It also held some painful memories for her, but it was now or never. She had to face them one day, and after the last few months of self discovery, now seemed like the perfect time.

She heard heavy footfalls behind her, turning her head slightly. "Steve."

"Lex." He stopped beside her, watching as the sun dipped further behind the mountains. "So, T'challa tells me you're planning on leaving after Bucky is out?"

"Yep."

"Don't you...don't you think you should stay and help him?" Steve asked tentatively.

Lex furrowed her brow and gave Steve a sideways glance, noting the slightly nervous look on his face, his cheeks even seemed slightly pink under his beard. She furrowed her brow in confusion slightly before answering. "How the hell can I help him? This whole thing is on him and Shuri. Besides," she looked back over the plains. "I've got my own treatment to get to."

She saw Steve's eyebrows rise slightly in the corner of her eye, but didn't continue. It wasn't any of his business and she suspected if she told him where she was going he might make an unannounced visit. That was the last thing she needed. "Well, if you ever need help, you know you can call me. We'll come and help you."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. Not my first rodeo."

Steve nodded. "Of course." He seemed to want to say something, but was hesitant. Lex turned to look at him expectantly, nodding for him to continue. "I want to thank you, for helping get that information. Shuri told me you were looking for information on your own injection, but..." he trailed off, appearing apologetic.

Lex shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's better this way." She thought about her conversation with Shuri again. "For everyone."

Steve scratched the back of his head and Lex couldn't help but smirk. She made Steve nervous and she knew it, and that was just one of his little tells. She'd seen him do it when they had met up with Sharon Carter in Berlin too.

"Still, you know who to call."

She sighed, nodding. "Likewise, buddy." And then she grinned malevolently. "Especially if there's a fight to be had. I've thoroughly enjoyed stretching my muscles again lately."

"Okay, reel it in, Lex."

"What?" She winked and looked back over the plains again. "Oh yeah, Nick Fury says hello. He also said you're off the Christmas card list for not telling me about him."

"Heh, I wondered when he was going to show his face again." Steve shook his head, laughing lightly and patted her on the shoulder before turning and leaving her to watch as the last sliver of sun disappeared behind the mountains.

* * *

 **Can't have a chapter without a little bit of Lex's crazy showing...right?**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	21. Awakening

**WWWHHAATTT? A mid week update?**

 **Dedicating this mid week update to hubby, who is coming home from his bush trip today and needed something to read on the bus. I pumped out the editing on this chapter to try and beat him to it. He's currently on chapter 20 so I got to hurry.**

 **Thanks to everyone who has followed and reviewed, I would usually put in extended thank yous etc but I've got to beat him!**

 **AAAHHHH!**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Awakening**

The darkness gradually began to lift from the dreamless sleep. Feeling slowly began to return to his extremities and he felt warmth seeping into his body. As his body regained its warmth, memories began to cycle through his mind.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Steve at the Stark expo before shipping out to Europe.

Tortured and experimented on after being captured by HYDRA in Germany.

Rescued by Captain America, who turned out to be his best friend Steve Rogers, after undergoing an enhancement, and his first thought being that he seemed taller.

Falling from the train in the Austrian Alps, seeing his best friend's distraught face and outstretched hand, but being unable to reach it.

Waking up as he was dragged through the snow by soviet soldiers, his blood tainting the bright white snow, with a red trail.

Regaining consciousness on an operating table, several doctors looking over him and finding an unfamiliar metal prosthetic attached to his shoulder, before trying to fight his way free from the doctor's cold grasps, before being knocked out again.

Performing mission after mission in aid of HYDRA, every target, every face.

Killing Howard Stark and his wife, hearing the ragged breathing of fear and sickening crack of bone breaking.

His last mission for HYDRA, trying to kill Steve.

Steve looking up at him, telling him he would be with him 'til the end of the line' as the Helicarrier they were on was crashing down around them.

Pulling Steve from the lake.

Dark brown eyes, a warm smile and long blonde hair surrounding exotic features. The sound of a contagious laugh ringing through the air, as a sunset basked them in orange light.

The feel of strong, yet feminine, arms wrapping around his waist and the sweet smell of fresh flowers mixed with vanilla.

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly, giving them a moment to adjust to his dimly lit surrounds. He took a deep breath, considering the onslaught of memories that had seemed to rush through his mind.

Taking a moment to calm his anxiety which was starting to peak, he began to try and decipher his thoughts. He didn't know how long it had been since he went under, but he sure hoped the Wakandan teen he had met before going under had figured out a way to fix him.

He began to try and move his hands and feet, feeling them brush against the linen on the bed he was on. There was the sound of movement to his left, and he was immediately on edge.

"Steve..." came a familiar, soft and feminine voice, which strangely, calmed him straight away. He turned to try and see the face of the owner, but the light from outside the window she was seated before, cast shadows across her face.

To his right there was the sound of someone standing and moving towards him. "Bucky?"

It felt like an eternity since he'd heard that name. He turned to see his friend looking down on him, a worried expression on his face. "Steve?" His friend no longer gave the impression of the clean cut soldier he knew. He seemed to have aged, a beard covering most of his face and his hair looked shaggier than he remembered.

"Welcome back, Buck." Steve smiled, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder. Bucky looked around quickly, he was obviously in a hospital room, from his vague memories, in the hospital wing of the Wakandan laboratory. He tried to recall why he remembered that detail, but it was fuzzy at best.

Steve glanced across the room and smiled at the other visitor. Bucky followed his gaze to the person sitting in front of the window, furrowing his brow as he tried to make out their face from the shadows.

They stood up and stepped towards the bed, dark brown eyes gazing down at his and a warm smile crossing her exotic features as she appeared from the shadows. "Bout time, Bucky," she teased.

He took in her face for a moment, letting his eyes adjust before smiling back at her. "Sorry, took a bit to thaw out, I guess." She shook her head slightly as she rolled her eyes, still maintaining a crooked smile, before quickly turning to leave the room.

He watched her leave before looking questioningly at Steve. "She was told to let Shuri know as soon as you regained consciousness," he explained, before helping Bucky to sit up. Sure enough, within moments of leaving, she returned, with Shuri in tow.

"Ah, Sergeant Barnes, it is good to see you awake," the Wakandan teen greeted with a smile. Lex moved to stand to one side again, as Shuri set to work, taking his observations.

He looked to Lex again, who was watching Shuri work with a calm expression. She didn't seem different, apart from her hair. Her long blonde hair was gone, replaced with short black hair, which accentuated her exotic features, giving her high cheek bones more of a sharpness to them, and her lips appeared fuller.

Bucky looked between Steve, Lex and Shuri, noting that they all seemed somewhat different. Shuri seemed even more mature than he remembered, she wasn't full of constant chatter when she worked like he had encountered before being cryogenically frozen. As for Lex, she seemed to have picked up an extra scar or two on her face as well as her changed hair style, and Steve definitely seemed weary and aged.

"How long have I been under?" he asked warily, looking around the room at them all.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "Only a couple of months," Lex replied in a nonchalant manner, before grinning slyly. "What, you want to know if we're getting around in hovering cars and skateboards as a normal occurrence or something?"

Bucky furrowed his brow in confusion. If it had only been months since he had gone under, what on earth had happened in that time?

"Oh, but we already did that before he went under..." Shuri said, looking at Lex pointedly.

Lex blinked at Shuri, before looking at her in disbelief. "And no one told me this because?"

"You never asked," was Shuri's wry reply.

Lex rolled her eyes and Bucky couldn't help but chuckle, it was good to see although her appearance had changed, she was still the same Lex. He glanced at Steve, who seemed somewhat annoyed at Lex's nonchalant behaviour. He folded his arms across his chest before speaking. "How is he, Shuri?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine, as I expected. It will probably take him a couple of hours to be up to moving much though, well, if Lex's recovery times are any indication, because that's what I'm working off of right now."

Steve seemed satisfied with the answer and looked at Bucky with a smile. "Glad to have you back, pal."

Bucky smiled warmly back at his friend before looking to Shuri. "So you figured out how to fix me?"

Shuri smiled at Bucky. "Yes, Lex has been doing some... umm..." her smile faltered and she trailed off, looking hesitantly at Lex.

"I went and did some digging," Lex answered easily, looking completely unaffected in comparison to Shuri. Bucky could have sworn that, although Lex seemed completely relaxed with telling him, the mood in the room seemed to tense. He glanced at Steve and couldn't help but notice he seemed to glare furtively at Lex when he thought Bucky wasn't looking. What had Lex done?

"You don't need to worry about that, Shuri's going to sort you out," Steve said quietly, focusing his attention back on Bucky.

"Yes, leave it to me, we should probably let you rest a little though, I'll come and speak to you again soon," Shuri looked pointedly at the two other super soldiers. "Come on, you two."

Lex seemed to scowl at Steve slightly, but followed him and Shuri out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving him to ponder what was going on between his two friends.

* * *

Once they were out of the medical wing of the lab, Steve turned to look at Lex. "I'm not sure it's the best idea to be telling him how you came across that information, Lex."

It had been bothering him since he had found out what she had done. Sure, the results had been great, but Steve was certain that Bucky wouldn't be happy that Lex had put herself in danger by first leaving the safety of Wakanda, then by sneaking into the SHIELD building.

Heck, it didn't sit well with him that Lex had put herself at danger of being caught by either the UN Security Council or worse, HYDRA, to get that information.

Lex narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a deathly glare. "Now, listen here, Steve. I realise you've got some ridiculously strong urge to protect everyone, but it's seriously misplaced with me." She took a few short steps towards him until she was barely a few inches from his face; her eyes staring coldly back into his. "I'm one of the most dangerous people getting around in the world, right now. You'd do well to remember that."

Steve didn't back down from the angry woman, instead, looking her straight back with his own steely gaze. "And you'd do well to remember that there are other people in the world that worry about you. Not just me."

He noted the deathly glare she held him with faltered slightly, and she seemed surprised. He did his best not to grin. It wasn't often you could make Lex hesitate or falter, so to achieve that was certainly a sight to see.

She was quick to cover her surprise with a scowl, stepping away from him and moving to sit beside a work bench, throwing him a final glare before picking up some papers and beginning to read.

Steve smirked to himself, before looking to see Shuri glancing between the two of them, a curious look on her face. Steve gave her a small smile before moving to look out the windows of the lab. "So this is where your vibranium comes from?"

"Yes, this is known as The Great Mound," Shuri explained, walking to stand beside him. "All of our vibranium comes from here, and we use it in nearly everything we produce."

Steve nodded, watching as a train sped by down below. It looked all very high tech, nothing like what he was used to. He became nostalgic, remembering the shield that had been given to him especially by Howard Stark, and then taken from him by Tony Stark.

Steve sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and turning to look back in the lab. He found that it was only him and Lex left, and she was looking straight at him. "What?"

"That's what I should be asking you," she replied wryly, tilting her head to one side and pinning him with an expectant look on her face. "You're not yourself, Steve."

He frowned, looking at her sceptically. "You barely even know me, I'm not sure you're the one to judge if I'm myself or not."

She raised both eyebrows and a small smirk played on her lips. "I rest my case. I take it being turned on by your country is taking its toll?"

Steve stared at her for a moment, trying to get his head around her words for a moment. They had a strange affect on him, like being cut straight into his heart, a dull pain resonating through his chest. "What?"

She smiled sympathetically. "On the money, it seems." She leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know, out of all of us, Bucky is the lucky one. He doesn't have the memories of being turned against like we do."

He raised his eyebrows and scoffed. "I don't see how you figure that."

"Oh, I know, he's got some nightmarish memories. I heard him screaming in his apartment some nights," she said in an offhand manner with a wave of her hand. Steve felt a pang of sadness wash over him, hearing that his friend battled his demons in his sleep. "But YOU were Captain America, and now America is after you. For what?"

Steve pressed his lips together. She was saying exactly what he had been thinking for weeks now. He had done everything that had been asked of him, he had fought for his country, had crashed the Valkyrie into the ocean to save the world, not just the US. He had been frozen for seventy years as a result, but now, for many, he was considered a fugitive.

He couldn't consider himself Captain America anymore.

She offered an apologetic smile. "Ah, what am I saying. Once a soldier, always a soldier. Right? Always fighting for the righteousness and all that." She pulled a face as she spoke her last words.

He narrowed his eyes at her as she sighed and looked back to the papers before her. "And what about you?"

She gave him a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow, but not turning away from her work. "What about me?"

"Who turned against you?" While she could irritate him to no end with her nonchalant attitude and malevolent tendencies, he was curious who she felt slighted by.

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to one side, before smiling lightly. "They say blood is thicker than water... but I'm inclined to disagree." She turned her attention back to the paperwork she had been reading, not elaborating further than that, and he wondered what she meant.

He decided to try a different tact. "T'challa told me you came back to Wakanda to fight for him, even after Shuri told you not to," he said, smirking. He saw her balk and scowl. He was not ashamed to admit that getting one over the sometimes malevolent female super soldier left him with a sense of satisfaction. "Seems like that tough loner act is slowly giving way to your sense of humanity."

"Hmph," was her curt reply. She continued flicking through the paperwork, although Steve could see she wasn't really focused on what she was reading. He began to grin, going to walk past her as he moved to leave the lab and check on Bucky. "Don't get too excited, I owed him one."

Steve continued walking, stopping beside her and leaning towards her ear. "Sure, but I'm pretty certain you stopped owing him one when you pulled him out of the river, Lex." He continued walking; pretty certain he could hear her eye roll as he left.

* * *

Bucky was finally allowed to leave his room and walk around the lab, after twenty four hours of observations. There was a lot he wanted to ask Shuri about how she planned to help him, whether or not he could understand her was another story though. Most importantly, he wanted to speak to Lex, to find out how she had found out the information necessary to help Shuri, and whether or not that information had revealed what had happened to her.

He sensed that it had to have something to do with her changed appearance, but he knew he had to find out from her directly. Steve had tried to cut her off repeatedly whenever any discussion had looked to cover her activities while he was out of action. The thought of why Steve might want to hide that information made him slightly anxious.

Steve had already left Wakanda, being unable to stay long as he was still on the run with Romanoff and Sam. Bucky felt guilty when Steve had mentioned their efforts to stay one step ahead of the Security Council, but as always, his friend had told him, that for his best friend, it was worth it.

He found Lex standing in a hallway talking to one of the Dora Milaje, the King's personal guard unit. The tall woman didn't quite stand as tall as Lex, but he could see she would still hold quite an intimidating presence as she turned to look at him.

"Bucky, how are you feeling?" Lex asked, noticing him approaching them. She was dressed casually, wearing a pair of black track pants that fitted her well enough to show her curves, a cropped camouflage print hoodie and a white shirt that poked out beneath it. It was quite a contrast beside the Dora who stood beside her, a spear in hand and dressed in her uniform, looking very rigid and tense.

"Pretty good, for someone who just thawed out twenty four hours ago," he replied stopping in front of them. His gaze shifted to the Wakandan woman.

"Oh, this is Okoye, General of the King's Dora Milaje," Lex introduced. Okoye nodded her head once, but didn't say anything to him, turning to look back at Lex.

"I must speak to the King, and let him know. Be sure to see me before you leave."

Okoye bowed her head slightly towards Lex, then himself before leaving them.

Bucky furrowed his brow and looked at Lex, who was gazing at him expectantly. "Leave?"

"Mhmmm, I'll be leaving once the first phase of your rehabilitation is complete. They want me here for the first test," she replied in an offhand manner, beginning to walk down the hall. She motioned for him to follow as she ambled past him.

He felt his chest tighten slightly at her words, an odd sensation for him at simple words. He was so stunned he didn't begin to follow her straight away, until she stopped and looked back at him, furrowing her brow at him. "Why?"

"Uh, because they need someone who can actually beat you, just in case, duh." She rolled her eyes and began walking again as he hurried to walk with her.

"No, I mean, why are you leaving?" he corrected, falling in step beside her easily.

"Oh, that. Yeah, it just feels like it's time," she answered with a shrug. He couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the reason, and she was keeping something from him, especially when she wouldn't look at him, watching the ground as they walked. "Anyway, did you want something? You looked like you were looking for someone?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you what you found out," he answered, deciding not to press her about why she was leaving. It seemed like something that made her tense, which wasn't something he was used to seeing from her.

She smirked knowingly, and he couldn't help but feel like there was meaning behind it, but she was quick to speak before he could ask. "Ah, well, Shuri and I were looking into my injection, and we found out Steve and I were both injected by formulas created by the same man."

Bucky furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Yeah, Dr Abraham Erskine created the formula that was injected in both Steve and I, but mine wasn't the final product. Oh, and he also didn't approve of my injection either. It was stolen," she explained, leading him outside to a small room that led off from the main lab.

She opened the door and ushered him in, before following and shutting the door behind her. Inside the room, a wall was covered with pictures and files. Lex reached for something on her wrist and a projection appeared on the wall as well, with writing coinciding with the pictures and files.

"You've been very busy," he murmured, moving forward to look at the files.

"You have no idea," she muttered as she leaned against a wall, folding her arms across her chest. He glanced back at her; she seemed very casual about the whole thing.

"So, how come Steve doesn't have the extra component in his blood tests?" Bucky asked, leaning forward to look at the blood tests that were projected in front of him.

"As I said, my injection wasn't the final product. From what I can guess, as there's no real information from Erskine available directly, he realised that something in the original formula made the tests subjects highly...volatile, and aggressive." He looked back at her with concern and she grinned malevolently. "Explains a bit, huh?"

"You're not that bad," he muttered in reply, annoyed that she thought that way about herself.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Anyway, between Steve and I, he came to the US and altered the formula, which is why star spangled pretty boy doesn't have that extra component," she explained. In the way she spoke, Bucky couldn't help but notice a tone of annoyance when she mentioned Steve. Something had obviously happened between them and he was growing more curious by the second.

"Okay, but what was it?" he asked, deciding not to bring up Steve, and trying to find any information on the wall about it, or about her own injection. When she didn't answer straight away, he looked back at her again. He was stunned to find her looking slightly dejected. "Lex?"

"We don't know. Any information on that exact component is no where we can find. It's possible he took that to his grave with him," she explained, before looking grave. "Or, HYDRA has it."

He frowned at the thought, before looking back at the information before him. He noticed a section off to one side, the label above it read 'Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes' he furrowed his brow and began to read, moving closer to the wall, seeing lots of information that seemed to coincide with his time in Germany before Steve rescued him from Arnim Zola and Red Skull.

Lex moved to stand beside him, the pleasant smell of vanilla and fresh flowers wafting across him and having him take a deep breath.. "I found a lot more information on you while I was trying to find out about me," she murmured, touching some medical notes that were tacked to the wall.

Something about the amount of information Lex had gathered on him began to bother him. How did she find this, and where? This was all information from World War Two, from before he became the Winter Soldier, before he had even joined forces with Steve and the other Howling Commandos.

He turned to look at Lex. "How..."

"I took a trip to New York, and then to Europe," she replied in an offhand manner, waving her hand as if it was nothing at all.

Bucky stared at her, clenching his fists as he felt himself getting angry. "You left Wakanda?"

She turned to face him, looking him pointedly in the eye and folding her arms across her chest again. "You mean, thank you. Don't you go getting all stupid on me too." She pinned him with a fierce stare, her black hair falling around her face as she leaned forward slightly; her expression darkening. "I did what I had to do for me, it just so happened I found more information on you."

"You could have been caught!" he retorted in annoyance.

"I wasn't, and even if I was, it wouldn't be the first time I've gotten myself out of a tight situation," she replied rolling her eyes again and unfolding her arms, shoving them in her pockets. She looked away, an annoyed expression spreading across her face.

It just made Bucky angrier. The last thing he wanted was for Lex to get caught after she spent so long on the run. If HYDRA or the Security Council were to find her, he could never forgive himself. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, looking to the ground. She was here, because of him. Because he got involved with her and now all her hard work to stay under the radar since she escaped the Red Room and HYDRA was unravelling, and now she was risking being captured. For what?

He felt her gaze on him and looked up to meet her dark brown eyes. "Don't do that."

He was caught by surprise by her soft voice, his anger quickly ebbing away as he stared into the depths of her dark brown eyes. He looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Don't go feeling guilty for me. It's written all over your face. I don't need your guilt, Bucky. Or your pity. You've got enough problems as it is, don't add mine to it," she said sternly, her face appearing emotionless, although he saw sadness in her eyes, even though it was fleeting.

"But..."

"Don't. It's bad enough your best buddy Steve gave me hell for doing what needed to be done. I can take care of myself; I chose to go after this information for me. Finding out some information to help you, was just a lucky coincidence that I was more than happy to take." She sighed, shaking her head and a crooked smile graced her lips, although he noticed it never touched her eyes like it usually would. "You boys, you're all the same, even if they messed with your head, still trying to be the knight in shining armour. I hate to tell you this, but I'm the dragon, not the damsel."

Bucky stared at her in surprise, taken aback by her jab at him. He would never have considered himself a knight in shining armour, but for some reason when she said it, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Perhaps it was because it meant that there was still a part of the old Bucky there, deep down inside him.

She moved to leave the room, but stopped and looked around at the information. "Just so you know, I chose to stop looking for the answers about me, I've decided it's safer for the world if we don't know, please don't even consider digging while I'm gone. Shuri already knows how I feel about this, and trust me; she thinks I'm way scarier than you." She winked before leaving him alone, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

 **I'm a bit proud of this chapter. I'd hit a wall of writer's block, and gone off to smash out some hectic chapters for 'Forgotten' but then I realised I had been neglecting this one and smashed out this in a day.**

 **So, bub, when you read this..you better appreciate it! Ha!**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	22. Testing

**So, missed out on updating on the weekend because we were flat out with some veteran work, but found some time today before the rest of my week becomes super busy.**

 **Many thanks to Lex Holmes, RoonieTunes, DeathsRule, laurenlovehappiness, and puppy24610.**

 **Also thanks to the reviews from the last chapter, basilbeast...I'm a little proud of that line, I'm not going to lie :D**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 **Testing**

Lex looked at Bucky solemnly. They were inside a special developed 'bunker' style room. The only difference between a proper bunker and this one; was this one was designed to keep people, or to be a bit more specific, a certain person, inside.

It had been three weeks since the start of Bucky's recalibration treatments, and today was going to be the first test.

Shuri had hooked Bucky up with all sorts of sensors, all non invasive and low key, including a set of Kimoyo beads, similar to the ones she had made to monitor Lex. To be extra careful, Bucky had not been provided a new arm to replace his old one, with the hope if something happened, it would make it easier for Lex to subdue him. They were both seated cross legged on the bare floor of the bunker, which had no other contents inside; making sure Bucky couldn't use anything as a weapon.

Bucky looked nervously back at Lex, who felt it necessary to provide him with a crooked grin. She tried to keep her excitement in check, but something about the look on Bucky's face told her she hadn't quite managed to suppress it.

She couldn't help it, she'd always enjoyed a chance to test her skills and strength, it was in her nature, or perhaps it was better to say the nature the Red Room had provided her. She was certain this might be the best test she'd had since taking on Killmonger, except this time, she was one on one, so she didn't have to take on a whole army first.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Bucky said for the tenth or eleventh time, she had lost count after about the second time, his anxiousness seeping into his surly voice.

"Relax, it's going to be fun!"

He looked at her in annoyance, before looking over to a window to her left, where Shuri was seated, monitoring the test. The teen, and her brother, was protected behind triple layered, bullet proof glass. Shuri looked solemn, but determined, leaning forward and speaking into a microphone. "Don't worry, Sergeant Barnes, even if you still activate at the words, you should become complicit, not outright violent without orders."

Bucky glanced back at Lex. "I'm not going to lie, I'll be mildly disappointed if there isn't a little violence," she teased with a smirk gracing her lips. She had to admit, while she preferred seeing Bucky smile, the broody and angry looks he was capable of weren't displeasing to the eye, which was probably why she was enjoying teasing him way too much right now.

"Lex..." T'challa warned through the intercom system of the bunker. "Don't agitate him, this is hard enough."

"Aww, come on, Bucky knows I'm joking," she offered him an encouraging smile, but when he didn't reciprocate, she pouted slightly. "Fine, look, it's fine, Bucky."

"We have every precaution ready, should the worst occur, Sergeant Barnes, but I'm quite certain that nothing will happen," Shuri reassured. "Okay, let's begin, all cameras are rolling, Lex, are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Sergeant Barnes?"

He hesitated a moment, looking back at Lex who smiled, being sure to not let any malevolence or mischievous thoughts show in her expression. "Ready," he mumbled with a sigh.

"Okay, hopefully my Russian is understandable," Shuri murmured. They heard the shuffling of papers and Lex watched Bucky carefully.

" _Longing."_ Lex noted Bucky still looked anxious, but his body language did not change, still tense and nervous.

" _Rusted... Furnace."_ She noticed his brows seemed to knit together slightly, but all in all, his body language stayed the same.

" _Daybreak...Seventeen."_ His eyebrow twitched and he clenched his fist, but still Lex saw no other visible change. She gave him an expectant look, and he shook his head, indicating he was still okay.

" _Benign...Nine."_ There was no change in his expression, his face still holding a look of anxiousness and his body tense. Lex thought about how she could help Shuri improve on her Russian, there was still a strange twang in her accent.

" _Homecoming."_ Another twitch of Bucky's eyebrow, and he began to grit his teeth. Lex narrowed her eyes at Bucky; his anxiousness seemed to be turning into something else.

" _One."_ Bucky broke eye contact with her, looking down to the ground in between them, and Lex immediately tensed. She was under orders from Shuri not to intervene until after the words were spoken or only to defend herself if he lashed out before the words could be completed. The Wakandan scientist wanted to see for herself what and how the words activated him at this point, and for Bucky to tell her whether they had made any progress once he came to.

" _Freight car."_ Lex saw his whole demeanour change as he closed his eyes. The tense expression on his face vanished, releasing his hand from a fist. She tilted her head to one side, glancing sideways at the window to look at Shuri and T'challa. They were both looking at Bucky with curious concern.

Shuri met Lex's gaze and gave her a slow nod. Lex stood up slowly from her position on the ground, moving towards Bucky quietly, careful not to say a word.

"Sergeant Barnes?" Shuri called out to him.

Lex was barely an arm's length away when Bucky's hand became a fist and his eyes shot open. He launched upwards at her with a closed fist, catching Lex on the chin with a hard punch, forcing her to stumble back.

"Lex!" Shuri and T'challa both exclaimed, before T'challa made a move to enter the bunker.

"Stay where you are!" Lex ordered, recovering quickly, and readying herself as Bucky charged at her again. "I've got this."

It felt like she was slammed by a fully loaded semi trailer as he tackled her, throwing her onto her back with the full force of his body. She grunted as the wind was expelled from her lungs, but was quick to use their momentum to throw him off of her, tossing him over her head.

Without his left arm, Bucky wasn't able to right himself easily, rolling several times before he was able to stop himself. He looked down at his arm in confusion and Lex took advantage, hurrying to her feet and launching herself at him.

She caught him across the chest as he stood straight again, using her speed and momentum to swing herself around his body, latching her legs around his arm to pin him and then wrapping her arms around his neck in an effort to subdue him. Lex counted her blessings that she was as tall as she was, because Bucky was a big boy made of nothing but muscle, it seemed. Had she been any shorter, she would never have been able to lock her legs around him. He was thick!

"Sleepy time, Bucky," she growled through her gritted teeth as he began to try and loosen her grip around his body to free his arm. She squeezed with her arms around his neck, trying to cut off his airways enough to deprive him of air and make him unconscious.

Bucky, or more precisely, the Winter Soldier, was not going to let it go easily. He stumbled towards the nearest wall, turning and slamming himself backwards, so that Lex's back connected roughly with the wall.

Lex grunted as she felt pain shoot through her back and neck. She'd been smart enough to bring her head forward before he could slam her against the wall, preventing him from slamming her head against it too, but even with only one arm and her working to subdue him, he was putting up a good fight.

"Lex! I'm coming in to help," T'challa said through the intercom, moving towards the entry door.

"Don't you dare, T'challa, you'll give him a chance to escape," Lex growled in annoyance as Bucky moved to slam her against the wall again. As Bucky leaned forward, Lex threw her own weight forward, causing Bucky to lose his balance and fall towards the ground.

Both slammed into the ground, Lex maintaining her hold on the activated super soldier, although pain shot through her arms and legs as they bore the brunt of Bucky's full weight against the concrete. Lex was able to roll him on top of her, so her back was against the concrete, the chill of the ground felt through the light shirt she was wearing. She tightened her grip on his neck, and could hear Bucky struggling to breath now. "Come on, Buddy, you know this isn't you."

Bucky still tried to strain against her legs, she could feel his right arm tensing and contracting every now and then, but she didn't let up.

"Lex, do you need me to come in with a sedative?" Shuri asked, panic evident in her voice even through the intercom.

"No, just a little longer, should be fine," Lex managed to grunt through the effort of holding Bucky. "You focus on the readings he's throwing out."

Bucky managed to throw his weight sideways, causing them to roll several times in an effort to get her off.

"Lex, are you sure-"

"It's fine!" She tensed her arms and grit her teeth, feeling his strength gradually beginning to decrease as he exerted himself. "Sorry, Buddy."

Finally, he stopped struggling and she felt his breathing slow under her arms, releasing him slowly and moving her face closer to his cheek to listen to his breaths. She couldn't help but notice how peaceful he looked in comparison to seconds ago when he seemed like he wanted to kill her. His hair draped across his face, but she could still see through it how vulnerable the man actually was. She'd never seen Bucky up close like this, nor had she ever seen him not look like he was carrying the greatest burden the world had ever seen on his shoulders.

She heard the door to the bunker open, quickly releasing Bucky from her hold and doing her best to slide him off of her carefully, although even for her, over one hundred and fifteen kilograms of pure muscle took some effort to move, and that was without the metal arm. She got to her knees, panting slightly from the effort of holding out against her fellow super soldier.

Shuri and T'challa hurried inside, along with some of Shuri's lab assistants, quickly moving to Bucky, one assistant securing his one arm to a belt restraint so that if he was still under the affects of the words he couldn't cause anymore harm, as well as securing his ankles together. It had been Lex's idea, for her to be the only one present to subdue him, but she had made sure they had put in place back up plans in case she failed.

"Well, anything good in the data?" she asked Shuri, watching as the lab assistants checked Bucky for injuries and a pulse.

"Lots, but are you okay?" Shuri demanded, moving to stand in front of her. Lex frowned and looked down at the Wakandan teen in confusion. Shuri's eyes went wide in surprise. "You know you're bleeding, right?"

It dawned on Lex that there was a familiar metallic taste in her mouth and her jaw was throbbing. She licked her bottom lip and felt a sharp pain and tasted more blood. "Nice," she remarked, giving an impressed smirk, looking back to the unconscious Bucky. "Knew he had it in him." She looked back at Shuri, who was looking back at her dumbfounded.

"That was quite reckless, Lex," T'challa spoke up, standing up from inspecting Bucky. "Next time, I think we should go straight to plan b."

"But where's the fun in that!" Lex teased with a malevolent grin at the Wakandan King. T'challa looked at her pointedly, causing her to roll her eyes. "Don't worry, there won't be another time," she said confidently. Lex glanced back at the still form of Bucky as two more lab assistants appeared with a gurney to transport Bucky back to the medical wing of the lab.

T'challa considered Lex for a moment before following her gaze. "We will help him. Although, I still think he could use your support too, Lex."

She shook her head ruefully. "No, T'challa. This is something he needs to do for himself." She looked back at the Wakandan King sadly. "Trust me." She gave him a small smile, before leaving the bunker.

* * *

Bucky opened his eyes slowly to find himself inside the medical wing again. He groaned, going to move his arm but finding its movement restricted. He looked down to find he was restrained. That could only mean one thing.

He groaned again, before looking around the room quickly. He found Lex sitting on a chair, her feet resting on another one in front of her and reading some paperwork with a serious look on her face. Her black hair was tied back into a braid, and she was running a finger along her bottom lip, which featured a rather nasty looking cut and bruising on her chin.

He immediately felt guilty, knowing full well it was probably his doing, and it hurt him to know he had done something to the only person in his life that seemed to fully understand him. He sighed sadly. "What did I do?"

She looked up expectantly, a small smile drifting across her lips as she lowered the papers in her hand. "Relax, it's nothing."

"It isn't," he retorted. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, that's why it's nothing." She stood up walking to the bedside. "Glad to see you're talking though; that means activation is over." She pulled a key out from her pocket and began to undo the restraints.

"I knew it was a bad idea," Bucky muttered ruefully.

"Not at all, Shuri was able to glean lots of data, and from the looks of it, you held out much longer than usual against the words," Lex said, freeing his arm and then his legs. She tossed the restraints to the side, without a second thought. She looked back at him and smiled warmly. "How do you feel?"

He watched as she walked to his bedside and pushed the call button before answering. "I've got a splitting headache and my neck hurts," he answered after a quick moment of consideration.

"Oh, that's my bad," she said with a smirk; and not a note of regret in her voice. "Shuri's going to want to come and speak to you about how you felt being triggered."

He sighed, sitting up carefully. "Yeah, I figured." He moved to stand up.

"Whoa, big fella!" Lex exclaimed hurriedly, moving to stop him, but she tripped over the restraints she'd thrown to the side. She began to fall forwards towards him, and he was quick to throw out his arm to catch her, but without his other arm, he was also quick to lose his balance and they both tumbled to the floor.

Bucky was able to support her enough so that she didn't hit the ground hard, but he couldn't stop himself from falling on top of her.

"Ooof!"

They both lay there for a moment, Bucky noting his neck really did hurt a lot; she must have done a good number on him in the bunker. He pushed himself up, which was a lot harder with only the one arm.

He looked down to see Lex below him, with her eyes closed and her face contorted like she was in pain. "You alright?"

"Shit, mate, why am I always the one on the bottom?" She opened her eyes and Bucky suddenly felt very aware about the position they were in as he looked down into her shining brown orbs that were her eyes. She raised an eyebrow expectantly at him, a small grin gracing her lips, which suddenly seemed fuller than he remembered.

"Uh..."

"Any time, Bucky," Lex said suggestively. He was quick to push himself off of her, causing her to laugh lightly and sit up herself, just as the door to the room opened.

"Uh, guys?" Shuri's voice called from the doorway. Bucky got to his feet quickly, feeling his cheeks heat as he grimaced when his head began to spin slightly from standing too quickly.

Lex took her time getting to her feet, a crooked smile on her face as she leant on the bed and looked at Shuri. "What's up?"

"What's going on here?" Shuri asked getting an inquisitive look on her face.

"I tripped," Lex said without even a second thought, picking up the restraints from the floor. "Bucky was dumb enough to try and catch me."

He looked at her incredulously. "A thank you would have sufficed," he huffed.

Shuri continued to look between the two for a moment, her eyes narrowed suspiciously, as Lex moved to leave the room. She turned back to look at Bucky, before winking and laughing as she walked out the door. Bucky shook his head. Lex was something else.

* * *

 **Eeepp...**

 **XD**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	23. Farewell, Welcome Back

**Long time between updates, but never forgotten!**

 **Soon, we will be entering Infinity War! That's a little bit exciting isn't it?**

 **Many thanks to Triggerfinger213, astrit090, bookwriter123456, minnatarek, Daryl's Lady, MadSnow, DemonQueen8787, bonitalito, anabelle395, Hammondc97 for joining me.**

 **Thanks to my reviewers too! Love hearing from you.**

 **Let us begin...**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **Farewell, Welcome Back**

Shuri finished taking Bucky's observations just as Lex came back into the room, followed by T'challa.

Thankfully, Shuri hadn't said anything more about the compromising position she had found the pair in, although her determined demeanour did give way to the slightest of smirks when she saw Lex again.

"So, is he good?" Lex asked; her face completely calm and relaxed, not a sign of any concern for what had happened moments earlier.

"Yes, he's fine, physically," Shuri said with a meaningful look at Lex, earning a raised eyebrow from the female super soldier. Shuri looked back to Bucky, her expression becoming serious. "Now, Bucky, can you describe whether what you experienced today, was any different to your previous experiences?"

Bucky was thoughtful for a moment, remembering everything he'd felt as Shuri had read out the words. He recalled thinking that it seemed strange that he didn't feel the same pain he would usually feel in his head as the first five words were read. He also remembered when the ninth and tenth word were read, it was like being struck by a hammer and all his conscious thoughts were overridden by a sudden need to hit something.

"It took a lot longer for me to feel the usual effects of the words, and usually, I would feel like all my thoughts are taken from me and replaced with a completely blank slate with no thoughts, just a need to comply with whatever I'm told to do. This time, I had this overwhelming sense of aggression and... fear? Or, maybe it was confusion," Bucky explained looking down at his hand, a sense of deep remorse washing over him and he couldn't bring himself to look at Lex, clenching his fist at the thought of attacking his friend.

"Interesting, so we've managed to remove the compliance programming," Shuri said, touching one of her Kimoyo beads and bringing a holographic screen up, beginning to touch at different words that appeared. She furrowed her brow and pressed her lips into a thin line as she seemed to be flicking through files. "Yes, the data shows heightened activity in his brain's Amygdala, higher than in the average man, but quite similar to Lex's when she is in a heightened state of aggressiveness."

Bucky's gaze met Lex's and she looked sympathetic, offering a small smile.

"So, do you know where you're going from here, Shuri?" T'challa asked his sister with interest.

"Yes, we now know that we CAN remove Dr Zola's programming, it's just a matter of time and we should have Sergeant Barnes back to his old self," Shuri answered, offering a warm smile.

Bucky tried to smile back, but he couldn't quite bring himself to believe he would ever be his 'old' self again. That Bucky was long gone. He glanced at Lex to see she was looking at him with a look of consideration.

"How long will it take?" Lex asked, looking back to Shuri then, an expectant look on her face.

Shuri touched another Kimoyo bead, flipping through screens before stopping on one and analysing it thoughtfully. "Hmm, I can't give you an exact answer, but considering it's taken us three weeks to reach this point, maybe another two or three months?"

Lex nodded, before looking to Bucky. He met her gaze and she smiled back at him. "You'll be fine, Bucky. I've got faith in you; Steve's got faith in you." A crooked grin then played on her lips. "Just stop worrying so much!"

He gave a light laugh at her mock scolding, looking down. "Yeah, alright."

"She is right," T'challa agreed. "We too have faith that we will help you call your mind, your own, once again."

Bucky looked at T'challa and Shuri gratefully. "Thank you, for everything."

"It is the least that I can do." T'Challa nodded his head to Bucky and then to Lex, before motioning for his sister to join him.

"Oh, but," Shuri began to argue, looking between Lex and Bucky with an overexcited look.

"Now, Shuri, don't make me get mother down here," T'Challa warned, looking apologetically at Bucky. Shuri pressed her lips into a thin line and quickly followed her brother out with her head down, leaving Bucky alone with Lex.

Bucky suddenly felt very awkward and exposed in the small room. Lex was seated on a chair opposite from his bed, a calm expression on her face as she looked at him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her in the eye, his mind still drifting back to the position they had found themselves in earlier.

"Will you relax, Bucky, you're making me anxious," Lex finally spoke up with a sigh, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. He furrowed his brow and looked up at her, beginning to wonder if she knew what he was thinking about. She cocked her head to one side, smiling warmly at him. "Anyone would think you just found out the world was about to end. You should be happy right now."

He stared at her in surprise, before realising he had been wrong. She had misread his anxiousness. "Well," he began, doing his best to calm himself. "I am, but there's still a chance it's not going to work."

"Sure. There's also a chance the Queen of England is actually a man in drag, but it ain't a huge chance," Lex retorted, rolling her eyes. He furrowed his brow and looked at her in confusion, not really sure what she was talking about. She sighed and looked at Bucky again, before standing and moving towards him. He felt tense as she moved to sit next to him on the bed, the scent of vanilla and fresh flowers drifting over him as she settled beside him. "Can you just let yourself be a little happy? I know, you think you're a bad guy, blah blah, but you aren't THE bad guy."

Bucky gave her a sideways look. "Really?" He struggled to believe that. He began to smile, a clever idea popping into his head. "I'll believe it, when you do."

"Huh?" She furrowed her brow and looked at him in confusion, screwing her nose up slightly as she pulled a face.

He grinned back at her. "You aren't a bad person either, Lex. You proved that by helping T'challa, and me." He pinned her with an expectant look. No, no matter what she had done, where she came from or why she had done things, he could never see her as a bad person.

Bucky watched as she bit her bottom lip, looking away from him bashfully. "Nah, Bucky, you and I are very different."

He turned to face her straight on, tilting his head sideways slightly, to try and look her in the eyes, but she avoided his gaze. "What makes you say that?"

She sighed. "I haven't ever regretted those I've killed, Bucky, I did what I had to do. You're so pure hearted; you've never forgotten and always regretted what you've done." A dark and crooked smile spread across her lips. "I've never regretted those that have died at my hands, Bucky, if anything, they're some very fond memories of mine." Her expression told him that she was currently far away, in a distant memory of her youth. A small smirk touched the corners of her mouth, giving her face the slightest of malevolent expressions.

Bucky stared at her for a moment, taking in everything she'd said and formulating a careful response, before speaking again. "But you've never killed since then, Lex, have you?" She lowered her head slightly looking at Bucky through her lashes and a tinge of pink creeping across her cheeks, making Bucky smirk slightly. The bashful look was such a strange but pleasant expression on her. He could tell he was right. "You try and act all mean, but deep down, you're a real softy, I bet."

She scowled. "I wouldn't go that far," she retorted with a pout, looking hurt at his choice of words. He chuckled, looking at her with a warm smile. She quickly looked away again. "I suppose, there could be some truth to what you're saying. I would never go so far as to say I'm a good person, though."

"That's okay," he said and leant closer towards her. "I'll say it for you." She wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes at him, but he saw her trying to fight a smile from appearing on her lips, and she couldn't hide the colour that appeared on her cheeks. "Besides, haven't you seen the movies these days? There are good dragons too, you know?"

She rolled her eyes and pulled a face of disgust that had him laughing aloud.

* * *

Steve watched as Lex stood leaning against the furthest work bench from him in Shuri's lab, tying back her newly acquired deep burgundy red coloured hair. It stood out, making her look quite unique and eccentric, which when he thought about it, probably suited her. It was just such a change; it was taking some getting used to.

He looked over at his best friend, who was leaning against the opposite work bench to him, staring at the female super soldier in awe. Steve couldn't help but smirk slightly; it had been a long time since he'd seen Bucky look at anyone like that, let alone a girl. Then again, as he looked back at Lex, he could understand why anyone would stare at her. If they didn't actually know what she was really like, they might stare at her like that but a different reason.

It wasn't that she was an outright bad person; she'd made effort to subdue her more malevolent tendencies and proven that she could be trusted, but she had a history that made him cringe.

Sure, Natasha had a similar history, but she'd also stepped into the light to amend those indiscretions long ago, even putting her entire past on the internet in a bid to prove her loyalty to the right side. And at no point did she display enjoyment out of hurting people, no matter how bad they were. Lex was the complete opposite, she loved a fight and he swore she loved to make people feel uncomfortable too.

Yet, even Steve had to admit that she was probably the only person that could associate with what Bucky had gone through, and having her around had proven therapeutic for him.

And now she was preparing to leave him.

It didn't sit well with Steve, and he could tell it didn't sit well with his best friend neither. When she'd brought it up a couple of days ago in a video conference they'd had with him, Steve had seen the distraught look on Bucky's face, and had immediately felt enraged at Lex's final decision. He thought for sure she would have changed her mind and stayed, but she was adamant leaving was what she needed to do.

Bucky hadn't even made an effort to argue with her, not then, and it seemed not now, either. He certainly didn't seem to be able to bring up her change in appearance.

It was Steve who brought up her choice in change, feeling the need to break the silence in the room, somehow. "Wouldn't it make you... I dunno, stand out more?"

"If they're so busy looking at my hair, Steve, they aren't looking at my face," she replied pointedly, checking her hair in a nearby mirror Shuri kept handy. Steve shook his head and sighed, not sure the idea was a solid one. "Relax, would you, just remember who here has the most experience staying under the radar, Cap."

He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance. She only called him 'Cap' when she was out to annoy him. He looked to Bucky who had a small smile on his face.

"You sure about this?" Bucky asked her. Steve could tell he was trying to not look as concern as he actually felt, folding his arms across his chest and pinning Lex with an expectant look.

She looked at Bucky with an innocent look. "Not you too."

"Well..."

"Look, I know what I'm doing," she replied, walking towards the pair, her heeled boots clicking on the floor as she straightened her green leather jacket. "You need to focus on your rehab; and you..." she eyed off Steve. "Well, you're a lost cause." Steve narrowed his eyes at the female super soldier, but all she did was wink at him. He shook his head at her before folding his arms across his chest. "Look, guys, chill. T'challa's got my number, I've got yours," she motioned at Steve as she stood in the middle of the pair. "If something happens, call. I'll come back." She looked to Bucky. "I did it once, I've got more reason to do it the second time, don't I?"

Steve saw Bucky smile warmly at Lex, and it made his heart soar. She may have been extremely rough around the edges and borderline insane, but the effect she had on Bucky proved that she had a heart.

"Why's that?" Steve pressed, a cunning smile spreading on his face.

She looked to Steve with a deadpan expression. "Apparently, I'm a good person now. Whatever the hell that means." Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise and watched as Lex looked to Bucky pointedly, making him blush. He laughed lightly at the pair.

"Lex," came a voice from the lab entry way. The small Wakandan woman who was often by T'challa's side when his sister wasn't, walked in, looking at Lex meaningfully. "It's nearly time to go."

"Awesome! I'll be right there, Nakia," Lex said, waving her off. Nakia nodded once, looking at Steve and Bucky sympathetically before she turned and left. "That's my ride."

Steve noted Bucky's face seemed to fall immediately, and he felt his heart go out to him. "Come on, we'll walk you out," he quickly suggested.

Lex looked unsure for a moment but shrugged, leading the way out of the lab. "Oi! Shuri! I'm leaving!" There was an inaudible response back, but Lex didn't stop walking to wait for the teen, continuing to lead the two men towards the landing bay.

They soon arrived on the landing bay, to find Shuri had beaten them out, along with her brother. They smiled at her as she approached, Steve and Bucky hanging back as Shuri moved to say goodbye to the tall Australian.

"Why can't you stay with us?" Shuri whined, pouting as she approached the much taller Australian. Steve watched as Lex scratched the back of her neck and he couldn't help but smirk. She was nervous. He recalled her behaving in the exact same manner when Bucky was going back on ice.

"Uh, what can I say, kid. I'm not one to hang around for too long in case people get sick of me," she replied in an offhand manner.

"We wouldn't get sick of you!" Shuri objected. Lex shrugged, looking to T'challa for help.

He smiled apologetically in response before speaking. "Even Lex has a home, Shuri. She just needs to find it."

"Ugh, she has one here!" Shuri retorted in annoyance as she turned to shoot him a glare before sighing. She turned back to face Lex, before throwing her arms around her. "Fine! But you better come back soon."

Steve grinned, seeing Lex's cheeks going extremely red and she looked very uncomfortable as she glanced down at the teen that gripped her tightly. She looked to T'challa with a dumbstruck expression on her face, but he just smiled warmly at her. Steve had to stifle a laugh as Lex patted Shuri's back awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'll work on that," Lex murmured finally, causing Shuri to release her, returning to her brother's side with a few noticeable tears in the corner of her eyes. Lex pressed her lips into a thin line before turning to look at the two super soldiers.

Steve put his hands in his pockets, showing that he had no intention of making her feel more uncomfortable, offering her a smile instead. "I've got your number, you've got mine, you have any trouble just call and me, Sam and Natasha will come and help you."

"Yeah, calling for help isn't an attribute I'm known for," she muttered, pulling a face, earning her a pointed look from both Bucky and Steve. She sighed. "But I'll keep it in mind."

Lex moved to speak to T'challa, turning her back on them as she did so. Steve could see Shuri glancing between Bucky and Lex with an excited and encouraging expression, but Bucky didn't seem to be moving anytime soon.

Steve rolled his eyes and nudged Bucky, gaining his attention. This was such a weird situation, back when they were kids, usually it would have been Bucky doing that to him. He looked at Steve and frowned but Steve raised his eyebrow at him and gave him an insistent look.

Bucky huffed just as Lex was finishing with T'challa and turned to face them again. He stepped forward, licking his bottom lip, like he always did when he was nervous. "So, uh, thanks for everything," he said quietly, looking down at her with a nervous smile.

"Oh, well, I didn't really do anything," she murmured, scratching the back of her head again. Steve bit his lip, doing his best to hide the smirk that was threatening to appear.

"You did plenty," Bucky replied, his smile suddenly losing any hint of nerves. "I hope you won't stay away too long."

She shrugged. "See how we go, you just worry about getting your head on straight," she said sternly, although she was smiling.

Bucky nodded, before reaching out for her with his arm, pulling her into a hug. Unlike the first time Steve had watched Bucky embrace Lex, she seemed like a much more willing participant from the get go. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kept her face up, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Behind them, Steve watched as Shuri was nearly bouncing with excitement, T'challa elbowing her with a serious expression on his face, causing her to scowl and glare at him. Steve smirked, looking back at his friend, who lowered his head slightly, seeming to whisper something in the woman's ear. Lex blinked, before raising an eyebrow and then a bashful smile spread across her face.

They finally pulled apart, both their cheeks seeming to be slightly pink as they avoided looking at everyone surrounding them, only saved from their embarrassment as Nakia stepped off the jet, a Dora Milaje behind her. "It's ready to go," Nakia announced, looking at Lex as she turned.

Lex finally looked around at everyone, smiling before turning to Nakia. She walked over to the small Wakandan who held out an arm to her and they tapped forearms. Steve raised an eyebrow, it was an interesting interaction. To him, it displayed that she thought of the Wakandan as a comrade. He knew she had been in battle with Nakia and the Dora Milaje, but he hadn't realised she had been considered one of them by the Wakandans.

"I'll see you, guys," she said, looking back with a wave as she moved to stand by the Dora Milaje who was waiting under the jet.

"Nailah," Nakia called to the Dora, making her look at her. "Don't forget the General wants a Starbucks on your way back." The Dora gave a smirk, as the stairs began to raise them back up into the jet.

* * *

There was the sound of children's giggles, familiar children's giggles. He could also feel their breath on his face, knowing they were probably leaning over him and watching him sleep again; it was one of their favourite things to do.

He opened his eyes, seeing the three boys with colourful paint on their faces staring down at him, big grins on their faces. Once his eyes were open, they were quick to run away, exiting the hut in a hurry. Bucky was never one to rouse on them, they were nice enough kids, always willing to help him when he needed anything, not to mention it had been a long time since he had been anywhere near kids. He found their untainted happiness refreshing.

He stood up, stretching his shoulders slightly, before exiting the hut himself.

As he felt the cool breeze and the warmth of the Wakandan sun on his face, he saw Shuri standing by the lakeside, the three boys all chatting animatedly with her in Xhosa. When she saw him, she shooed them away, causing them to run a short distance away and climb a tree, giggling all the while.

"Good morning, Sergeant Barnes," Shuri greeted with a warm smile as he approached her, looking him up and down.

He smiled back at her. "Bucky." He finally felt like he had all those years ago, like he was free. He felt like there was no longer the threat that someone else was going take over his mind and control his actions. He was back.

Shuri grinned back up at him, placing her hands behind her back. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." He took a moment, taking a deep breath and smiling at the Wakandan teen. "Thank you."

She nodded once, maintaining the grin on her face. "Come." She started walking away. "Much more for you to learn."

Bucky paused for a moment, looking across the lake in front of him and appreciating the rays of sunlight that warmed his skin and the gentle breeze that moved his hair. A small smile flitted across his lips as he recalled the warm smile and deep brown eyes that had made all this possible, before following behind Shuri.

* * *

Bucky leant down to scratch the head of a kid that hurried along by his side. The baby goat bleated happily in reply, before stopping to chew on some hay as Bucky reached into the cart and grabbed a bale of hay, before he dropped the bale onto the ground for the five baby animals.

The older goats ambled over slowly to start munching on the hay too, as Bucky reached into the cart to pull out another bale. T'challa had given him a small plot of land to recover from his rehabilitation, Shuri believing that the quiet life; away from the lab and the city, would do him a world of good. It did feel good, being able to live independently, away from the lab and bustle of the city, but he had to admit to himself, he still felt restless. Whether it was because he had always been on the move, or if it was the fact he didn't know anything but fear or lack of control, he wasn't sure. Whatever it was, he was very aware of it, although he continually tried to ignore it.

As he threw the hay bale across the ground, he saw four bodies appear up on the ridge line overlooking his hut, two of them walking down the hill. He recognised them by their stature and walk. It was T'challa and his Dora Milaje General, Okoye. As they approached, he noticed Okoye was carrying a long black case, and both wore very serious expressions on their faces.

Bucky wiped the grime and dirt from his hand onto his jeans, stopping his work to walk over and greet the pair. "T'challa, General," he greeted warmly, nodding to them. T'challa offered his hand and Bucky took it in a firm handshake, while Okoye placed the case on top of a bale of hay still left in the cart. Bucky noticed Okoye looked very grim as she glanced at T'challa, perhaps even anxious, which was not an expression he was used to seeing on any of the Dora he had the pleasure of meeting from time to time. It took a lot to make their expressions change at all, he'd noticed and he'd only ever seen any of them laugh for two people. Shuri, or Lex.

Without another word, T'challa nodded to Okoye, who opened the case, revealing a prosthetic arm made of a dark metal. He raised his eyebrows, sighing as he considered the piece of technology in front of him. This could mean only one thing. He looked up at Okoye, before sliding his gaze to T'challa. "Where's the fight?" he asked gravely.

"On its way," T'challa replied grimly. "Like nothing you've ever seen before."

Bucky gave a grim smile, sighing as he looked squarely at the Wakandan King. "I dunno; I've seen some things in my time."

T'challa grinned in response. "I'm sure you have."

Bucky looked back down at the prosthetic, but his mind was elsewhere. "Have you called her?"

"Ayo has been dispatched," Okoye answered him now, her expression still grim. "They should return within 24 hours."

Bucky considered them both, before nodding; accepting that the time had come for him to return to the only thing he knew hadn't changed through time. And suddenly, he realised what it was that him feeling restless.

* * *

 **Someone reviewed not long ago, I think after the last chapter, saying "Just kiss already!"**

 **Yes, I am quietly giggling childishly at this last chapter at your expense. I'm terribly sorry but it gives me great joy to torture you so... :D**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	24. The Reunion

**Guys! Infinity War came out today, but I don't know if I'm ready for that heartbreak again...**

 **Anyway... timing seems impeccable as we are about to enter the Infinity War stage of this fic. So, get it out of your system, watch it many times, so that you're ready when the inevitable happens...right? :P**

 **Also, does anyone else have an addiction to those Otome apps? I've got serious issues, I swear.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **The Reunion**

Steve watched as Sam piloted the Quinjet towards a familiar mountain range. It had been at least a month since his last visit, but this time he was feeling much more sombre about returning. "Drop to 2,600. Heading 030," he ordered Sam. He leaned forward, holding onto an overhead rail attached to the fuselage.

"I hope you're right about this, or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to," Sam warned, watching apprehensively as they flew towards the mountain range spread out before them.

Steve grinned as the Quinjet hit the mark in the cloaked shield of Wakanda, exposing the true Wakanda that lay beneath it, Golden city shining against the Wakandan sun. He glanced at both Natasha and Sam, enjoying the looks of astonishment currently written across their faces. "Yeah, I think we're good."

Sam landed the Quinjet on the landing pad, Steve heading to the back of the Quinjet and opening the ramp. As it lowered, he heard his fellow Avengers form up behind him. He glanced behind him, noting the grim looks on everyone's faces. Sam, Natasha, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey and Bruce, all of them had been quick to volunteer to stop the impending threat and to protect Vision without a second thought.

When Steve had called T'challa and explained the warning he had received from Bruce, he had also been quick to offer his services. As far as he was aware, T'challa was rallying his own forces for the impending attack. Steve turned back to face the front, as the ramp finished lowering, seeing T'challa, his Dora Milaje and army awaiting them at the bottom of the ramp. Steve led the way down to greet the Wakandan King.

"Should we bow?" Steve heard Bruce whisper behind him. He heard Rhodey murmur a reply but couldn't quite pick up what was said.

Steve offered his hand to T'challa, who accepted it quickly, exchanging a firm handshake. "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve said with a smile.

Beside him, he saw Bruce start to lower himself to the ground, glancing over at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey hissed, and Steve had to do his best to suppress a grin. Rhodey had clearly set him up.

"We don't do that here," T'challa said with an amused grin at the scientist. The Dora Milaje surrounding the king looked less than impressed with the scientist as T'challa motioned for them to begin to follow him as he led them towards the palace.

"So how big of an assault should we expect?" T'challa asked gravely, as his Dora moved into wide ranks on either side of the newly arrived visitors.

"Sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault," Bruce replied anxiously as he hurried along behind Steve. He recalled everything Bruce had warned them about at the Avengers old headquarters when they had gone to retrieve him, in awe of the detail Bruce had been able to tell them of what to expect.

"How are we looking?" Steve asked, looking to T'challa as they walked.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, we are contacting the Jabari as we speak," T'challa began to rattle off his available forces and then grinned as he looked past some awaiting Kingsguard. "And..."

"A semi-stable 100-year old man," a familiar voice interjected. Steve looked ahead as the Kingsguard separated to reveal a grinning Bucky striding towards them.

Steve was quick to move to Bucky, hugging his old friend. "How have you been, Buck?"

Bucky pulled back from the hug first, still grinning. "Not bad, for the end of the world." Steve gave a light laugh, his friend's warm grin brightening his day immensely as he looked around at the other assembled Avengers. He was about to take him over to greet the others when there was the sound of another jet soaring overhead, banking hard before beginning to lower to the ground. Steve noticed the other Avengers all looked rather nervously at the newly arrived aircraft, and turned to look at T'Challa, noting the King seemed to be grinning. That grin could mean only one thing.

Bucky and Steve began to walk towards the jet as the ramp lowered, both looking into the jet expectantly. Steve glanced at Bucky in the corner of his eye and couldn't help but notice his friend looked very eager as he looked to the jet. They both stopped a few feet from the ramp, waiting as a familiar figure appeared through from the shadows of the interior of the jet.

"G'day fellas," came the familiar Australian accent as she stepped into the sunlight. Her hair was no longer the extremely burgundy red colour it had been when she'd left, but back to a golden blonde, tied back into a high pony tail, tossing it over her shoulder as she stepped off the ramp.

"Lex," Bucky greeted as she walked towards them, smiling warmly at the female super soldier. Steve couldn't help but notice the way Bucky looked at her. He had never looked at anyone like that before, even when they were kids, and he was chasing skirts all over Brooklyn.

She stopped in front of them, grinning from ear to ear as the Dora major stepped off behind her, Lex looking back and nodded to her as she moved to fall into rank behind the General. Lex turned back to look at the pair. "I hear you guys needed some crazy," she said with a malevolent grin, raising her eye brows once.

Steve sighed, clearly she hadn't changed at all while she was away. "Good to see you, Lex," he said, offering her a handshake. She raised an eyebrow as she glanced at his hand. She seemed to analyse the hand for a moment before slowly reaching for it herself. He held her hand firmly, giving it a slight shake. "Glad to have you on the team, again."

"I never left, Cap," she replied with a crooked grin and a wink.

Her gaze slid to Bucky and her grin changed to something much warmer. "How you doing, Bucky?"

"Really good, I'm glad you're home," he said, before quickly stepping forward and pulling her into a hug. Steve raised both eyebrows at Bucky's straightforward approach to Lex. He couldn't help but knowingly grin at the pair.

Lex seemed just as surprised, but she eventually returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around him, her cheeks becoming gradually pinker by the second. He saw her eyes dart to look at him, but he quickly averted his gaze, glancing back to look at his fellow Avengers.

Those that had already met Lex were staring, mouths slightly agape and stunned by the interaction between the two, while Bruce just looked confused.

Lex was the one to finally pull away from Bucky, looking past him to the waiting gathering. "I suppose I should thank T'challa for the pick up."

"Yeah, might be nice. I imagine Shuri is probably waiting for us too," Steve replied, considering he knew how much the teen looked up to Lex, for some strange reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Heh, probably," Lex replied as Steve led the way back towards the others. "How's the arm she gave you, Bucky?" she asked, looking at his dark coloured prosthetic. Steve hadn't been able to have a proper look at it yet, but it was clearly made from vibranium and seemed sleeker than his old one.

"Haven't tested it yet," he replied before raising it up and making a fist to show her the new prosthetic.

She grinned in response. "I'll help test it, if you want," she offered, teasingly raising an eyebrow.

Steve gave her a warning look. "Not really the time for it," he muttered as they approached T'challa. Steve stopped by the other Avengers before T'challa.

Lex poked her tongue out at him before stepping in front of T'challa. "Your highness," she mocked, pretending to move to curtsy.

"Eh, already making fun and not even here five minutes," Okoye scolded her immediately.

"Would you expect any differently, General?" Lex asked pointedly. The Dora Milaje General looked at her with a serious expression, before a small smile spread across her face. She offered her arm to Lex and she returned the gesture by tapping her forearm against Okoye's. Lex looked to T'challa. "Thanks for sending Ayo with the jet."

"Thank you for answering our call," T'challa answered warmly, nodding to the tall Australian. "Shuri is expecting you, she has some new toys for you."

Lex grinned malevolently, a smile Steve was all too familiar with, before rubbing her hands together. "Oh, goody." She moved past him, heading down to the labs herself, while T'challa led the others down after her.

* * *

Bucky stood back, watching as Shuri greeted Lex with all the exuberance and excitement of a teenager, making his fellow super soldier look quite uncomfortable.

When Shuri stepped back and began gushing animatedly to the Australian, he looked her over again. She was wearing a pair of fitted jeans that hugged her curves, with a maroon top and a dark green leather jacket. Gone was the burgundy red locks, replaced with long blonde hair, similar to what she had when he'd first met her in Bucharest, and it was tied back into a high ponytail that draped down her right shoulder. She looked like she might have spent some time in the sun, her skin seeming to glow with a healthy tan.

Shuri handed Lex two black cuffs, causing Lex to look down at them in confusion. "Uh, not sure looking fly in the accessories department is gonna help me in the field, Shuri," Lex said looking sideways at Bucky with a cheeky grin. He smiled at her, shaking his head at Lex's usual light hearted attitude. He had to admit, he had kind of missed it.

"Oh, this will. It's the same technology as T'challa's armour," Shuri replied, taking the cuffs back off her and sliding them over her hands. She walked behind her, sticking a little clear disk to the back of Lex's ear, before holding her own Kimoyo beads up to her ear and pressing one of the beads, making the little clear disk, glow. "Okay, think about activating the armour."

Lex frowned, glancing sideways at Bucky, who moved to take a seat at one of the work benches, looking at her expectantly. She shrugged off her leather jacket, revealing her toned arms. "I've seen what T'challa's armour does to his clothes, I'm rather attached to this jacket, thanks." She tossed it over to Bucky, who caught it easily, tossing it across a work bench, before watching as she began focusing her gaze on a point straight ahead.

Within moments of her face becoming focused, a navy blue armour began to form all over her body. "Good god!" Lex exclaimed, jumping slightly as it continued to spread its way across her body. Bucky watched in awe as the armour sheared off the clothing as it spread, dropping pieces of fabric to the floor.

It took a few seconds to complete, but soon, Lex was completely armoured from feet to neck in navy blue armour, with black detailing. Bucky stared in awe at her in the figure hugging armour as she began to move her arms and legs, testing the manoeuvrability of the outfit.

"Wow," Bucky murmured. He'd never seen anything like it before, Shuri was constantly surprising him with her gadgets and knowledge.

"I'm not gonna lie, that was freaky," Lex said, looking slightly perturbed. Bucky chuckled at her reaction while Shuri scowled. "I mean, I'm not saying it's not great, it's just going to take some getting used to."

"Well, you'd better get used to it fast," Steve said, entering the lab with T'challa, Natasha, Bruce and Wanda holding up a struggling Vision. T'challa led Wanda and Vision further into the lab so that Vision could rest on one of the high tech medical tables that Bucky was so familiar with.

Steve stopped before Lex, appraising her for a moment, a small smile spreading across his lips. Bucky furrowed his brow at his best friend, feeling a slight annoyance at Steve for some reason, but he was quick to suppress it. It was a strange feeling, but the way Steve looked her over had Bucky on edge.

"You ready to play the good guy, again?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows after looking her over.

"Ha ha," Lex sneered with an eye roll. "You've been waiting five months to say that to me, haven't you?"

Steve grinned back at Lex, shrugging his shoulders. "You know it's true."

"You've got your shining armour now, what more proof do you need?" Bucky chimed in, remembering what she had said to him about her being the dragon, seeing the perfect opportunity and taking it.

She pressed her lips together, narrowing her eyes at both super soldiers, making them both grin, before moving to walk away.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet! Your armour also features magnets at the back to hold your weapons and a self defence mechanism that activates when it feels your heart rate either dropping or spiking," Shuri exclaimed, hurriedly pressing one of her Kimoyo beads and activating a sand table that revealed a black weapon, that resembled a rifle of some sort, and a small black rod. "You'll be needing these."

Lex frowned before picking up the short black rod. "This, I know." She attached it to her back without a second thought, before looking to the other item. "But what the hell is this?"

"Well, I know you're trained in weapons such as guns and rifles, I thought perhaps you would feel more comfortable having one for the impending fight?" Shuri replied, picking it up carefully and handing it to Lex.

The female super soldier hoisted up the rifle up, inspecting it. "Ammunition?"

"Not necessary, it's a blaster, much like my hand blasters, but much more powerful. Capable of firing thirty rounds in thirty seconds. Or if you flick this switch," she moved towards Lex and motioned to a button near the trigger. "It can fire a sonic wave that will hold an enemy for thirty seconds."

Lex looked impressed, glancing sideways at Bucky. He had to admit, he was impressed too, but he preferred the old school method, lead bullets, gun powder and knives. "Well, kid, you've outdone yourself," Lex praised the teen, hoisting the rifle onto her shoulder with a smile. Bucky watched as the teen looked proudly back at Lex, before turning to look at her brother who was returning from the furthest room. "Is he ready?" T'challa nodded, turning to walk back into the other room.

Shuri hurried away, while Lex looked to Steve. She glanced at his uniform, her eyes seeming to linger at his chest. She glanced at Bucky, shooting him a questioning look. He understood her confusion. Steve's uniform had changed, it was well worn, naturally, having been utilising it quite often since their fight in Leipzig. But the thing that he had noticed straight away upon Steve's return was that the once recognisable Stars and Stripes theme to the uniform, was blacked out.

Bucky had a feeling he knew why, but he had thought better than to raise the subject with his friend. Naturally, the change had been picked up by Lex immediately and Bucky watched as her eyes seemed to narrow slightly and she bit her lip, before hoisting her rifle to her back so it attached to the magnets at her back too.

"Where do you need me, Steve?" Lex asked, her eyes looking back up to meet the Captain's, a resolute and expectant look on her features.

Steve seemed to appraise her again, before looking to Bucky. He couldn't help but note there appeared to be a tinge of sadness in his expression, but for what reason, Bucky wasn't sure. He unfolded his arms and stood straighter, nodding to them both before turning and beginning to bark out instructions to everyone.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	25. Regrets?

**Hi guys! Long time no see!**

 **Sorry it's taken me so long to get another chapter up. You see, after I saw Infinity war, I was just so in awe and shock, I just didn't know how on earth I was going to put it into words. Even now, I'm still not sure how the hell I can do this, hahaha**

 **I even considered skipping the battle and jumping straight to the aftermath and their reactions, but my sounding board (husband) vetoed that idea. So here we are...**

 **I also got a new job, and the not for profit I run is taking up a fair bit of my time in the lead up to Halloween too.**

 **But enough about me...how about you guys!**

 **Thanks must go to my reviewers, thanks so much for letting me know how much you've liked the story so far.**

 **Thanks also to Umbreon Gurl, girllyingbythesea901, Kyoya Kumo, MickyMcMuffinx3, Kelrisathefiredemoness, Trikova, Valdra Dae, Rosaline Capulet, lilrose88, Bird in Blue, Monica Startek, Amaterasu Mitsu, Rainnyash, Ellesbellsmells, Emeroth, Lily Carmen Black, Magic126, Socially Awkward Human Being, Chironista and Alyssa McGrath for following along with this story, you guys are all awesome too :D**

 **And so...let us continue with this tale**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 ***CAUTION* POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING AND GRAPHIC CONTENT**

 **Chapter 25**

 **Regrets?**

Bucky and Lex stood in silence, side by side, watching as the spaceships crashed into the woodlands of Wakanda. He sighed, watching as ship after ship appeared in the sky above them, before crashing to earth.

"Hey, Lex, you know how you and I have lived a long time, right?" he murmured, glancing sideways at her.

"Me more than you, you mean?" she replied in a nonchalant manner. She met his gaze, the slightest of smirks on her lips. He glared at her pointedly, causing her to roll her eyes at him. "Yes, what's your point?"

"Any regrets?"

She furrowed her brow, seemingly baffled at his current line of questioning. He looked back towards the ships as they began to change shape, apparently opening. She followed his gaze, taking in their surrounds before they looked back at each other.

"I'm starting to think I might regret inviting you into my apartment," she muttered.

"Really?" he retorted indignantly, looking at her with a disgruntled expression. It didn't take long for him to notice the smug expression on her face. He shook his head, smiling coyly back at her. "I was just starting to think I'm glad I took the chance to enjoy your chocolate cake." Lex seemed to blush slightly at his comment, the slightest of grimaces appearing on her lips as she averted her gaze.

"Man, I don't mean to intrude, but that's some weird ass flirting you two are doing," Rhodey commented from the other side of the landing bay they were standing on, with a perturbed look on his face.

"Yeah, they're weird like that," Sam called to him, smirking slightly at the pair. "You get used to it."

Bucky clenched his jaw at their teasing, but Lex just rolled her eyes and made a face at them, before all four turned to watch, as several large, boat like vehicles appeared from an opening in the landing bay, hovering overhead for a moment, before floating closer to the ground. As they landed atop the landing bay, files of Wakandan troops hurried to form up before them, before running aboard as the loading ramps hit the deck.

"I take it these are our rides?" Lex asked, tilting her head to one side as they watched the troops loading up.

Sam scoffed, before nodding towards Rhodey. "These are YOUR rides, we got our own, much faster, and cooler rides."

Lex rolled her eyes again. "Keep it up and I'll clip your wings, FALCON." Her eyes narrowed slightly and she hoisted her blaster onto her shoulder, causing Sam's grin to falter, as Rhodey's eyes went wide. Sam coughed and quickly looked past her as Steve and T'challa appeared from inside the labs.

"Lex, stop scaring Sam."

"Sorry, old habits die hard..." Lex replied, smirking slightly to Bucky, as she turned to look at Steve.

"I wasn't scared! Who says I was scared?" Sam retorted indignantly.

Bucky shook his head with a chuckle and a sigh, turning to look at Steve and T'challa. "So what's the plan?"

Steve stopped before them, looking past them towards the spaceships nestled into the tree line outside the protective shield. "We go out to meet them, and hold them off until Shuri can remove the Mind Stone, Wanda is going to stay up here as protection and to destroy the stone once its out." Bucky furrowed his brow slightly before turning back to look at the alien ships. That plan seemed awfully lacking to him.

"That's it?" Lex asked, a disgruntled look on her face. Steve looked at her expectantly. "That's your plan?"

"We have no idea what we are up against, it's the best we can do for the moment," T'challa answered as Natasha and a large powered suit walked over to join them. Bucky and Lex both looked up at it expectantly. It vaguely reminded Bucky of the Iron Man suit.

Lex tilted her head sideways and examined the suit, stepping forward. "I wasn't expecting Stark to be joining us after last time."

The helmet withdrew, but the occupant was not Tony Stark, but a rather weary looking man, who looked slightly bewildered. "Tony went after Dr Stephen Strange after some more of Thanos' people took him from New York," the man explained, looking down at them.

"First name basis, eh, chummy are we?" Lex replied mockingly, a malevolent smile appearing on her lips.

"Bucky, Lex, meet Dr Bruce Banner," Steve introduced, motioning to the man. "This is the Hulk Buster suit, developed by Dr Banner and Tony Stark together as a...contingency plan." Bucky furrowed his brow, immediately wondering what the contingency plan was for.

"Ah," Lex greeted with a look of recognition, a smirk appearing on her face. "Big fan, love your work. Must ask though, why green?"

The doctor's brow furrowed in confusion and he looked towards Steve, who grimaced at Lex, rubbing a hand on his forehead. Bruce looked back to Lex. "Uh, it's not really something I get a say in."

"Well, I must say, you suit red quite nicely," Lex complimented, turning to move back towards Bucky. "Very sexy."

"Uh, thanks," Bruce replied, looking mildly confused and embarrassed. "Sorry, and who exactly are you?"

"Oh, just a 120 year old enhanced former assassin with psychotic tendencies," she answered without looking back at him and a nonchalant wave of her hand.

They were all quiet, as Lex moved to join the Dora Milaje as they began to load up on the transport vehicles.

"She likes to mess with people's heads a bit," Natasha explained to Bruce quietly, while Bucky tried not to laugh at his reaction.

* * *

The transport vehicles sped down the rolling Wakandan hills, carrying T'challa and his troops, the Dora Milaje, the J'Abari, Natasha, Lex, Bucky and Steve, while Rhodey and Sam flew overhead and Bruce ran alongside.

Bucky stood beside Lex, while Okoye stood on her other side. Bucky and Lex both watched as Bruce ran down the hills in the Hulk Buster suit, jumping boulders as he went.

"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asked through their commlinks.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Wow! It's like being the Hulk without actually-". Suddenly, he must have had a lapse in concentration, as the Hulk Buster tripped over a small boulder and crashed heavily into the ground, dirt flying everywhere as it skidded along. He was quick to stand up again. "I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Lex shook her head and turned back to face the front, while Okoye looked back at the Hulk Buster in disdain.

Bucky tried not to laugh at both their reactions and instead looked around at his surrounds. It was all too familiar for him, the tightly packed transport, the tense atmosphere of everyone preparing for battle. He had been in a similar situation before, in Europe. As he looked around, his surroundings became hazy, darkening slightly, as if they were surrounded by high trees and his ears began to ring, blocking out the sound of the wind rushing by.

His head began to hurt slightly, as he heard the sound of heavy artillery whistling overhead, the sound of shells exploding as they hit the ground, shouts for help and medic seeming to come from all around him. He felt his adrenaline begin to peak, his heart rate speeding up and a cold sweat beginning to appear on the back of his neck.

He heard the voices of his men that travelled with him to Europe, orders being shouted and the sounds that were made as bullets and shrapnel ripped through their bodies. He closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly as he tried to remove the hazy images from his head. Images he hadn't remembered in years.

Through the haze and pain in his head, he felt a strong, yet feminine, hand wrap around his bicep and give a gentle squeeze.

His eyes shot open and everything brightened, the rolling hills of Wakanda speeding by once again. He looked to his left, to see Lex looking at him in concern, her hand around his arm that held his gun. "Bucky, you good?" She gave his arm a firm squeeze, looking at him pointedly. Clearly, she had noticed what had been happening to him, although he wasn't sure how.

He looked at her for a moment, taking in everything about her. Her long blonde hair, that was pulled back into a high plait and was currently draped down her shoulder like a thick rope, the faint scars that skirted her face, to her deep brown eyes that held so many of her emotions, when her face tried to deceive the truth. She was the one person, other than Steve, that looked at him without any judgement from his past actions. She could sympathise with him, and although she hadn't needed to be kind to him, to leave the safe life she had made for herself, she had thrown herself into the deep end to help him and his friends at the first chance she had got.

He gave a small smile to her, nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay, thank you."

She tilted her head slightly, her inquisitive eyes still showing signs of concern for him. "You sure?

He reached across with his spare hand to pat hers reassuringly. "I'm good, don't worry."

She raised her eyebrows at the gesture, a slight pink tinge creeping across her cheeks, but sighed and released his arm again, looking back out of the transport as it sped down the last hill. Bucky looked past her and saw Okoye looking between them, the slightest of smirks on her face.

* * *

When the transports finally slowed, they began disembarking as they banked sharply, leaping over the sides of the transports. T'challa's Dora and Kingsguard formed up alongside their J'Abari counterparts, T'challa greeting M'Baku.

Bucky, Lex and Natasha formed up beside Steve, while Bruce stopped behind them, retracting the helmet of the Hulk Buster to see with his own eyes what lay ahead of them, while Rhodey and Sam flew overhead. They watched as two figures exited the tree line beyond the protective shield.

Sam swooped overhead. "We got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line."

T'Challa, Steve, and Natasha began to walk to the edge of the barrier, where two strange looking creatures that vaguely looked like disfigured humans, were waiting on the other side of the barrier.

Lex leaned towards Bucky. "You starting to feel like you've seen everything now?"

Bucky frowned slightly, considering her question, before shaking his head. "Nope, I'm starting to wonder what else I haven't seen, actually."

Lex frowned and looked thoughtful as Natasha, T'challa and Steve began walking back after conversing with Thanos' minions. "Fair point. I've lived a hundred years, I've seen a lot of shit, but this... this takes the cake."

Natasha, T'challa and Steve fell back in line with them as Lex finished speaking. "You might regret saying that," Natasha commented as Lex moved over to let her stand between her and Bucky.

"Why's that?" Lex asked her smaller counterpart with interest.

"I get the feeling nothing we learnt in the Red Room could have prepared us for this," the smaller woman answered quietly, her eyes drifting back to look towards the tree line.

Bucky glanced sideways at Steve. "Did they surrender?"

"Not exactly."

Bucky looked to Lex, who responded by switching her weapon's safety off and flexing her shoulders slightly. She gave him the slightest of nods before focusing her attention back to the tree line.

T'Challa began to lead the Wakandans in their war cry. " _YIBAMBE_!"

"Hey, Natasha," Lex murmured quietly as the Wakandans continued their war cry, not taking her eyes off the tree line as she raised her weapon and looked through the scope.

"Yeah?"

"I like the new colour, looks good."

Bucky and Steve both turned to look at her, their brows furrowed as they tried to come to terms with Lex's sudden and rather poorly timed compliment. Natasha's normally red hair, was now blonde, obviously in an effort to make her less recognisable to those trying to find her. While it was an obvious change, the compliment could have been better timed.

"Oh, thanks, it's different, not sure I'll keep it, if we make it through this," Natasha responded casually, earning raised eyebrows from the two male super soldiers.

"Is now really the time for this?" Steve asked incredulously, looking back towards the tree line as there seemed to be a commotion coming through the trees.

"No time like the present, Cap," Lex replied with a mischievous smirk, glancing at Bucky and winking. "Wouldn't want to leave Nat wondering, 'cause, you know. End of the world and all that." Bucky shook his head and grinned too. She was one of a kind.

* * *

 **Until next time**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	26. Knight In Shining Armour

**Hey gang, long time between visits.**

 **Apologies for taking so long to add another chapter, being back in retail means going flat chat right up until New news is I got a new computer for myself for Christmas/birthday so perhaps I will write more in the next few months. At least, until Endgame... then I might die...**

 **Many thanks to go around:**

 **Thanks to my reviewers AliceCullen3, ShigureAyameHatoriFanClub and jingerr.**

 **Also thanks to my new follows/favourites Girlwithnosoul, ebarnea25, Cakewhiz, ShigureAyameHatoriFanClub, Chally88, , christoffer Mrch, jingerr, abbydobbie, BeautifullySarcastic22, bribri1300, Slyshy21, Emily01111, Spirit92, keliawb and Daisy96.**

 **And a huge thank you to those that have been following since the beginning and are still hanging around, you guys rock too!**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

 **Knight In Shining Armour**

As they stood atop the hill, watching over the tree line, the tree tops showed signs of being disrupted.

"Time to party, kids," Lex muttered, hoisting her new blaster into her shoulder and then looking through the scope towards the tree line.

There was a thunderous roar and growling, before the first group of hideous and gruesome looking creatures burst through the tree line. They looked like something out of a horror movie. Hairless creatures, with gnashing teeth, that ran on all fours. Their skin was slightly translucent, so you could see their veins pulsing through their skin.

"What the hell?" Bucky breathed in disgust, voicing what must have been everyone else's thoughts.

Natasha looked sideways past Bucky to Steve. "Looks like we pissed her off."

" _SHIELDS!"_ T'Challa ordered, his Kingsguard immediately engaging their cloak shields.

Outside the dome, the aliens began throwing themselves at the energy shield, in an effort to break through. They piled atop each other, some managing to overwhelm the powered shield momentarily, but then being sliced in half as it regenerated around their bodies as they tried to climb through the gaps.

Okoye watched on in disgust. "They're killing themselves."

Sam soared overhead, flying along the interior of the shield and looking down at the throngs of aliens. "Have you seen the teeth on those things?" He began to fire on the creatures in an effort to slow them down.

"Alright, back up Sam, or you're gonna get your wings singed," Rhodey warned as he flew in closer. He flew by a section that had been breached by the aliens and dropped a barrage of small incendiaries, lighting up the inner edge of the dome. The creatures that had made it through paid no heed, continuing to try and breach the shield even as their skin was burning away.

Sam circled back, shaking his head in disbelief. "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get behind us…there's nothing between them and Vision."

Lex, Natasha and Bucky all turned to see the creatures beginning to run along the outer edge of the dome, indeed appearing to try and flank them towards the other side of the city.

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," Steve murmured, a discernible look on his face.

Okoye looked to T'Challa expectantly. "How do we do that?"

T'Challa glanced towards Steve knowingly. "We open the barrier." He reached up, putting his hand to his ear. "On my signal, open north-west section seventeen." He was quiet for a moment, as if listening to someone's response. "On my signal," he confirmed with a slight nod and sombre expression.

M'Baku leaned down to murmur to Okoye, who stood stoically beside him, watching as the aliens continued to bombard the shield. "This will be the end of Wakanda."

Okoye didn't look away from the aliens attacking, her expression changing to one of determination. "Then it will be the noblest ending in history."

Bucky grimaced slightly and glanced sideways to Lex, to see if she had heard.

She met his gaze and shrugged nonchalantly. "Mate, a century is a damn good run, be a good way to go, I say," she answered his unspoken question.

He looked to Natasha standing on his other side, to see her blink a few times before leaning forward to fix Lex with a look of chagrin. "That's extremely morbid of you."

Lex raised an eyebrow as she looked down to the smaller Russian spy. "You expected anything less, Romanoff?"

Bucky chuckled quietly to himself, as Natasha frowned slightly before nodding and turning her attention back to the situation at hand. He looked back towards the incoming alien attack.

* * *

"Wakanda Forever!" T'Challa shouted, crossing his hands over his chest as his armour helmet covered his face, before charging down the hill towards the barrier with his army close behind him.

Steve joined him, keeping pace with the Wakandan King easily, streaking far ahead of the advancing army.

"Now!" T'Challa gave the signal and the barrier was opened, a small section, only wide enough for maybe two humans to fit through, yet several of the hideous aliens tried to fit through at once, causing a jam. Those that made it through rushed towards the Super Soldier and Wakandan King.

 _"COVER FIRE!"_ Lex shouted, taking charge of the army left on the hill, firing her own blaster as she made the order. Her aim was true and hit a charging alien just before Steve could reach it. Steve slid to halt, staring in surprise at the burning mass in front of him. "You're welcome," she muttered with a smirk before continuing to fire on the incoming aliens.

Bucky and the remaining forces on the hill opened fire, including the Hulk Buster being piloted by Bruce Banner, trying to suppress the ongoing onslaught of aliens that continued to charge through the gap in the barrier. It was not easy, as the aliens started making their way towards those on the hill.

 _"PREPARE FOR HAND TO HAND!"_ Lex shouted to the Wakandan forces around them, continuing to fire at the approaching waves of aliens. The Hulk Buster charged past them, beginning to stomp through the mass of aliens, while Lex and Bucky both began to try and offer covering fire to him. It was starting to prove futile, as the mass of aliens was beginning to overwhelm them.

"There's too many!" Bruce shouted as his suit was overwhelmed by aliens climbing all over it, beginning to try and bite through the thick armour of the battle suit.

Natasha thrust her twin batons down, an electrical crackling emanating from them as several blue rings lit up down the shaft. She moved to run down the hill, but Lex was quicker, sprinting past the Russian and down the hill towards the Hulk Buster.

"Hang on!"

Bucky turned in time to see her, bringing his weapon around to aim towards her. "Lex, watch out!" he warned, beginning to offer cover fire as she tried to make her way down through the throngs of attacking aliens, ducking and weaving in an effort to avoid the alien attacks. She fired several rounds at the mass of the aliens attacking the Hulk Buster, knocking them away, but more seemed to take their place.

It didn't take long until she was surrounded. She eyed the aliens for a moment, as they began to circle her, gnashing their teeth and growling menacingly. "Well, now, shall we play a game?" she asked with a malevolent grin as she looked around. She slung her blaster to her back slowly, taking her stave from her thigh and activating it, the recognisable blue Vibranium blades shining brightly at the ends of the weapon.

The aliens leapt at her and she immediately began fighting them off, ducking and rolling to avoid their sharp claws and teeth, while slicing through their translucent skin with the small Vibranium blades of her stave. But even she was beginning to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the attack.

"Lex!" Bucky shouted as he moved to try and reach her, but he was soon tackled by more aliens, piling on top of him and trying to tear at him, and each other, as they fought to bite into his flesh. All around the hills of Wakanda, the allied forces were struggling to make ground against the alien forces, the huge numbers of aliens with no regard for their own well-being, constantly pouring through the barrier seemed to increase rather than decrease.

Lex let out a yelp of pain as one of the aliens bit down hard into her shoulder, causing Bucky to fight with more vigour in a bid to help his friend.

"LEX!"

Natasha turned her attention to Lex, having heard Bucky's panicked cry, as did several of the Kingsguard, who also began trying to move to her aid, but all found their progress impeded by more aliens. There was a sickening crack, followed by the sound of gut-wrenching squeals. Bucky feared the worst as he tried to fight off the aliens piling on top of him, looking in her direction while still holding alien jaws at bay.

An alien's head was flung from the pile on top of Lex, as more were thrown back as she stood up, her eyes dark and face menacing. The aliens around her seemed to falter as they took her in, bloodied and menacing. She was breathing heavily, her eyes looked wild, although completely black as she looked around at all the aliens surrounding her, seeming to size them up.

Before anyone could take action, a large beam of light burst through the clouds, turning everyone's attention from Lex. It hit the ground nearby, and the Avengers and Wakandans who weren't currently fighting off a large pile of aliens stopped to look up in awe, as an axe flew out from the column of light, slicing through the air and electrocuting the aliens with the ebbs of lightning emitting from the weapon, or slicing them in half as it soared by.

The axe tore through the pile of aliens atop Bucky and the Hulk Buster, allowing them to get back to their feet and fight, as well as those surrounding Lex, who also leapt into action and began taking more down as the axe passed by. Bucky was quick to hurry to Lex's side, knocking down a few aliens as he made his way towards her.

"Lex, are you okay?" he asked her, as she spun her stave and sliced another alien across the throat with her back to him, slowing as he approached her. He was well aware that the extra component in her blood had obviously been activated and that she could be very unpredictable. She straightened slightly, before turning her head to one side to look at him. He could just make out her eyes behind her hair that had fallen loose from its binds, falling around her shoulders.

The darkness was easing within them, the brown of her eyes beginning to return. She was breathing heavily as she looked back at him. "Yeah, I'm okay." He moved closer towards her, as she turned around to face him. He noted she seemed to be favouring her left shoulder, clearly the armour Shuri had provided her had prevented the aliens from breaking the skin, but it hadn't stopped them from breaking the bones. He grimaced slightly as she spun her stave around in her hands as if to make a point. "Don't worry about me, we've got bigger fish to fry," she said, before throwing her stave and piercing through an alien as it tried to charge up behind him. Bucky looked back, smirking slightly as she strode past and pulled her stave from between the alien's eyes where it had embedded.

* * *

They all looked around as the axe returned to the column of electricity and light, which began to ease instantly upon the axe's return. A large man appeared, wearing armour of silver and black with a red cape, a creature that resembled a raccoon on his shoulder, and a tree that moved as if it were human by his side.

"Thor?" Steve murmured, noticing the missing Avenger. Thor caught his axe, electricity flowing around his body as he looked towards the alien ships with a grim determination.

Bruce retracted the Hulk Buster's helmet and began laughing manically. "Hah! Hah! Hah! You guys are so screwed now!"

Lex ran by Bucky, drawing his attention, as she tried to avoid an alien that had charged her, before leaping into the air and flipping backwards, all while swinging her stave. She sliced through the alien's neck, and it dropped to the ground at his feet with a thud.

"Gross," Bucky groaned as the alien's blood splashed onto his boots, stepping backwards.

"Pansy," Lex teased, before looking around. "Now, where did that blaster go?"

Bucky looked at her incredulously. "Really, you lost your weapon?"

"Uh, no…they stole it, thank you very much," she retorted, before slicing through another alien as it ran at her. She looked down at it as it gurgled its last breath. "Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if I found it inside one of these things," she muttered, kicking at it.

Bucky shook his head before taking aim and beginning to fire his weapon again. "Just stay close to me."

"Aww, you gonna be my knight in shining armour?" Lex asked, turning her back to Bucky as he continued to shoot at the charging aliens, until more lightning and electricity shot across the battlefield.

He turned to look towards the source. "Uh, nope, he might though," Bucky replied as the lightning subsided again and Thor caught his axe. Lex turned to look for herself, appraising the Asgardian with a slight frown on her face.

Thor looked towards the gap in the barrier before charging forward with his axe raised and causing more lightning bolts to eradicate from his body. "BRING ME THANOS!" he cried out angrily. He charged toward the hoards of aliens, followed by the strange tree creature and raccoon, which was carrying a rather large and menacing looking gun that was almost bigger than he was.

"That's a little too cliche for my liking..." Lex said, before ducking as another alien lunged at her. She sliced at it as it turned to attack her again, taking first one leg, then another, before slicing it across the neck.

Bucky resumed firing at the aliens that made it past Thor and his friends, slowly making his way down hill, Lex sticking to his back and preventing any aliens from flanking him. They soon found themselves being circled by a rather large number of aliens, and somehow, the raccoon was trapped with them. Bucky continued firing his rifle, until he realised that if he didn't do something drastic, they would end up surrounded as all three began backing towards each other. He glanced at the raccoon who was also still firing. "Lex, get down!" he ordered, before picking up the raccoon by the back of his armour.

Lex dove onto the ground as Bucky and the raccoon both continued firing their weapons, while Bucky spun, taking down alien after alien.

"Come and get some, space dogs!" the raccoon shouted, puzzling Lex slightly as she looked up at Bucky and the creature from the ground. "Come on! Get some! Get some! Come on!"

Finally, all the aliens around them were felled, and Lex sat up as Bucky dropped the raccoon.

"I take it back," Lex sighed, as Bucky reached down to offer her his Vibranium hand and helped her to her feet with ease. He looked at her in slight confusion as she straightened. "About seeing a lot of shit?"

He recalled the conversation back atop the hill as they had been waiting for the start of the attack. "Yeah?"

Lex looked at the raccoon, that seemed to be analysing Bucky. "This…this definitely takes the cake." He knew what she meant. He had never seen anything like the raccoon before. But before he could ask the raccoon anything, it addressed him, completely oblivious that they had been referring to him.

"How much for the gun?" the raccoon asked, looking up at Bucky's light sub-machine gun as Bucky turned and fired at more incoming aliens.

"Not for sale," Bucky replied bluntly continuing to fire upon the creatures. Lex activated her stave again, ready to defend Bucky and herself again, as the raccoon continued.

"Okay, how much for the arm?" it asked. Lex raised her eyebrows and glanced sideways at the raccoon, doing her best to stifle a laugh, while Bucky stopped firing and shot a look of disdain at the raccoon. He walked away with a look of annoyance on his face, turning his back to the raccoon. The raccoon grinned malevolently. "Oh, I'll get that arm," he muttered aloud to himself.

"I wouldn't push your luck, raccoon," Lex replied, picking up a fallen spear and throwing it at an attacking alien, skewering it to the ground.

"Don't call me a raccoon!" the creature exclaimed indignantly as it continued to fire at aliens as well. "Quill calls me that all the time. I get the feeling it's not a nice thing to be called!"

"I wouldn't say that, they're rather cute and clever animals, if you ask me," Lex replied, slicing away at another alien attacking her. Once she had finished fending it off, she looked back to see the furry creature looking at her with a tilted head and curious expression on his face. "What do I call you, if not raccoon then?"

It seemed taken aback slightly but recovered quickly. "It's Rocket."

"Very well, Rocket," Lex said matter-of-factly, before her eyes darted to look behind him and a serious expression appeared on her face. "Duck."

He looked alarmed as she attached her stave to her thigh holster and then sprinted towards him, but he did as instructed, and she leapt high into the air over him, drawing two small blades from her wrists, before flipping and landing on one of the aliens as it tried to charge towards them, plunging the blades into the alien's shoulders. She clung to the alien, straddling it, before trying to cause the alien to turn by twisting the blades. The alien charged through its comrades, knocking them away from Okoye and M'Baku as she ploughed through.

"'scuse me! Coming through!" she shouted.

The alien started trying to buck her from its back, jumping wildly and throwing itself backwards, until she was thrown off and tumbled along the ground. She looked up towards the ugly creature, as it began stalking towards her as she struggled to her hands and knees, quick to push her loose hair from her face and eye the large alien. "Oh, boy."

She slowly began reaching for her stave at her thigh, trying not to provoke the alien, but it snarled and began running towards her with great speed. She was quick to draw her stave, activating the Vibranium blades, but before she could get to her feet and swing her weapon a broad back appeared before her, there was a flash of lightning and the sound of heavy metal striking through bone.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise as Steve stepped aside and looked back at Lex wearily. "You okay?"

"Never better, you?"

Steve sighed before motioning with his hand to the situation around them. "So, so."

"You know I had that, right?" Lex muttered, slicing nonchalantly through another alien that tried to run by her at Steve.

"Sure, that's what it looked like," Steve mocked with a tired grin.

She narrowed her eyes at him, before glancing past him to see Thor chopping through an alien with his axe. Steve turned to follow her gaze, as Thor happened to also turn to look at them at that moment. He nodded towards the pair in greeting. "New haircut?" Steve asked, motioning to the Asgardian's shortly cropped hair.

"Noticed you've copied my beard," the Asgardian replied, motioning to his own face. Steve grimaced and sighed before chuckling. "And you've got a new friend, I see?"

Steve looked back to the female super soldier who had her attention on the alien she was currently fighting off. "Oh, yeah, this is Lex," he said, motioning to her.

She finished off the alien before turning to nod towards Thor. "Pleasure."

"It's all mine, fine lady," Thor replied, grinning wide at her, an impressed look on his face. She raised her eyebrows and glanced sideways at Steve. He shook his head slightly, imploring her not to ask questions with the look on his face. Before she could say anything in response, the walking tree ran towards them, in the process of attacking several aliens at once, impaling them with his arm that grew to a great length with pointed end. Lex nodded approvingly towards it as it dropped the now dead aliens. "By the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree," Thor introduced, motioning to the tree.

"I am Groot!" it shouted, sounding somewhat agitated.

Steve moved his hand to his chest, looking at Thor's friend, Groot, meaningfully. "I am Steve Rogers."

Lex stared at the trio incredulously before shaking her head in disbelief. "I am out of here…" she charged away to attack another influx of alien attackers.

"I like your new friend," Thor commented, watching as she slid along the ground to avoid a lunging alien, the blade of her stave slashing through it as she slid by.

Steve sighed. "You think you like her now, just wait until you get to know her…"

* * *

 **Alrighty!**

 **I'm hoping I will at least get to 'that' moment by the end of the month.**

 **For those that enjoy this fic, you might also enjoy my other fic... "Forgotten" which I am updating with two new chapters in the coming hours.**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	27. Flattery

**Man, either this new computer is way more motivating than my last one, or being alone on New Years Eve is super motivating.**

 **Yes, that's right...another chapter. Unheard of in such a short time buy me, I know!**

 **Thanks to Rainbow Haired Girl for following :)**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

 **Flattery**

Bucky continued to shoot at aliens that came charging towards him, occasionally seeing Lex in the corner of his eye as she fought off aliens on her own. She was holding her own fairly well, even without a rifle or blaster, but he worried she might tire soon.

"How are you holding up, Lex?" he called as he took aim at another alien that seemed to think sneaking up behind her was a good idea.

"Me? I'm good," she answered, pairing her stave with one of her blades, knocking an alien's gnashing claws away from her first, before plunging the blade into the creature's neck and twisting. She glanced back at Bucky as she flicked alien blood and gunk off her knife and hand. "Why, you getting tired, young fella?"

Bucky smirked, shaking his head. "Please, old woman, this is a stroll in the park."

She raised her eyebrows in response, and looked like she might say something back, but both were soon distracted by a rumbling sound and the ground beginning to shake beneath their feet. Lex turned to look out towards the ships embedded into the tree line. "That doesn't sound good…"

Bucky was inclined to agree, and he watched as the trees surrounding the spaceships began to go up in flames, and the ground around them begin to warp like a wave beginning to form off the shoreline on the coast.

"Crap." Lex stood a little straighter and her eyes widened as they watched the ground and flames rush towards the shield barrier. " _WATCH OUT!"_ she shouted in Xhosa.

T'Challa heard her and turned to see what her warning was referring to. The ground rapidly crushed against the barrier, and it was then that Bucky noticed there was definitely something large and fast rushing towards them…underground. T'Challa began to shout orders. "FALL BACK! FALL BACK NOW!"

Bucky was quick to turn and run, still shooting at the aliens that tried to attack him, no sense of self preservation in the stead of the mysterious weapon currently rushing towards them at great speed.

As the tidal wave of dirt smacked against the barrier, whatever was causing it passed beneath the barrier, unimpeded, before rising to the surface. It appeared to be some sort of giant wheel, with a multitude of razor-sharp teeth that dug at the ground as it sped along the ground.

All along the sector of the barrier were several of these wheels, which ripped through the Wakandan soldiers and aliens alike, no discrimination against who it destroyed.

Bucky was so focused on trying to avoid the razor laden wheels, he didn't notice an alien charging at him until it was too late. The creature lunged at him, pinning him to the ground, before trying to bite down on him. It latched onto his Vibranium arm, its teeth and his arm making a horrible grinding noise. He tried to manoeuvre his arm, so that he might be able to get it out of the alien's mouth and do some damage, but although the alien couldn't break the arm, it had a firm hold of it.

The alien made to try and shake him, turning its head slightly. However, its movement was soon impeded by a spear breaching one side of its skull and appearing out the other. Bucky clenched his jaw in disgust as the alien's blood splattered onto him. Lex leaned over the top of the alien to look at him, as the alien's jaw tension slackened off.

"Whenever you're done mucking around, Bucky," she mocked, raising her eyebrows expectantly. He grimaced at her, before she grinned back down at him and looked up behind her. "Got to go…" she was gone before he could say anything more to her, before struggling out from beneath the alien.

* * *

The razor wheels raced across the grasslands of Wakanda, destroying everything in their path. Rhodey and Sam flew overhead, both trying to cause some damage to the weapons.

"Focus that fire on the left flank, Sam," Rhodey instructed, dropping his own payload onto the weapons.

"I'm doing it!" Sam shouted back, banking sharply, before pulling out his guns and firing onto one of the wheels, causing little to no damage.

As they soared overhead, they flew over Natasha and Okoye, who were doing their best to fight off aliens between them. They both turned as a large set of razor wheels raced straight for them. Both of them held their arms up, bracing for the impact of the monstrous weapons.

Suddenly, a red glow appeared before them, encircling the wheels and lifting them from the ground. Wanda landed behind them, her eyes and hands glowing red as she forced her powers to lift the giant wheels high into the air. She turned to see more aliens charging towards them from behind her, opting to split the wheels apart and throwing them onto the grasslands on either side of the two women and herself, crushing the surrounding aliens.

Okoye and Natasha both straightened, looking at Wanda in awe as she turned to look at them, seeing if they were alright.

The Dora General was the first one to speak, as she spun her spear lazily. "Why was she up there all this time?" she demanded of Natasha. The small Russian just smiled at Wanda, grateful for the help.

Lex ran up behind Natasha, looking between her, Okoye and Wanda. "You kids okay?" she asked looking at the wheels crashed alongside them.

"And where have you been all this time?" Okoye demanded, looking her up and down. "You look terrible."

"Oh, hi Lex, yes, we're fine, thanks for asking…" Lex mocked, looking pointedly at Okoye. The General narrowed her eyes at Lex for a moment, before she began to grin.

Before anyone could say anymore, Sam soared overhead and called over their comms. "Guys, we got a Vision situation here." He was tackled out of the sky by an alien before he could get to the humanoid and help him.

Steve dodged an alien, before punching another one before shouting through his comms. "Somebody get to Vision!"

Lex looked towards Shuri lab, before spinning her stave expertly. "On it." She took off at a sprint.

Wanda and Bruce also turned their attention to Shuri's lab.

"I got him!" Bruce shouted, activating the thrusters on the Hulk Buster and taking off through the sky.

"On my way," Wanda said, but before she could join Lex, she was attacked with a knock to the head, landing in a ditch caused by the monstrous wheels that she had just destroyed.

She rolled onto her front, before trying to crawl away. Her attacker grabbed her roughly by the shoulder, flipping her onto her back. She looked up to see it was one of the aliens that had attacked Vision when he was visiting her in the UK. The female alien looked down at her with disdain, towering over her with scowl on her face.

"He'll die alone. As will you," the alien said in a low, menacing voice. Wanda glared back up at the alien, not taking her eyes from her, contempt written all over her face.

"She's not alone."

The alien furrowed her brow in annoyance, turning around to see the owner of the voice. Natasha smirked slightly at the alien, knowing she had gotten the better of her once already. Okoye stepped up behind the alien, swinging her spear challengingly before pointing its sharp tip towards the alien, a look of grim determination on her face.

The alien clenched her jaw, sizing up the Dora Milaje General, before looking back to Natasha. She growled, before charging at the Russian, yelling as she leapt onto the bank of the ditch and leapt at the Black Widow.

Okoye was quick to run after her, aiding Natasha to fight off their larger alien foe. Wanda shuffled back quickly as the two fighters began to work together and began pushing back the larger alien, Okoye leaping forward when the alien fended off Natasha's attack and forced her backwards.

The two did their best to fight off the alien, but she was much stronger than both of them. She knocked them both backwards, and was about to bring her bladed staff down, when there was a sudden blur of black and blonde, and the alien was sent flying backwards, rolling backwards before landing back on her feet. She held her chest and looked back towards the Natasha and Okoye.

Lex looked at the alien with her head tilted to one side her mouth twisted into menacing smile as she brandished her stave, spinning it a few times. "Oh boy, this is gonna be fun." She emphasised the word 'fun', holding her stave before her in a readied stance. The alien was quick to her feet, to charge back at Lex.

"You were supposed to be helping Vision!" Wanda exclaimed from her spot on the ground before getting back to her feet, as Lex started to attack the alien woman.

"Bruce has got it," Lex retorted as she ducked another swing of the alien's bladed staff. Okoye and Natasha were quick to their feet to assist Lex.

"Guys! Vision needs back up. NOW!" Bruce's voice came over the comms.

"Aww, crap." Lex grimaced as she blocked another strike from the alien. Okoye and Natasha took turns trying to distract the alien, all three working to try and wear down the alien's defence. As they did so, one of the razor equipped wheels whirred towards them, all four ducking slightly as it easily jumped over the ditch they were in.

Lex, who was currently holding the alien's bladed staff at bay, caught Wanda's eye as she flung the alien backwards again. The alien charged at her again, and she ducked, but the alien continued on to kick at Natasha, knocking her onto her back and winding her, before catching Okoye's spear as she tried to swing it down at her, throwing her away like she was nothing at all.

Lex stood up straight, breathing a little heavier than normal. "I got to give it to you, I haven't had a workout like this in ages."

The alien smirked in response to Lex's compliment. "If you think flattery will save you, you're sadly mistaken." The alien charged at her again, and although Lex was able to disarm her of her bladed staff, the alien kicked at one of her knees, knocking her off balance and causing her to drop to one knee. The alien then unsheathed a long blade hidden in her bracer of her right arm. She slashed at Lex, catching her across her own armour, before slashing upwards slightly and catching Lex across her cheek.

Lex fell back in surprise, quickly bringing her stave up to block another strike by the alien with great ease. There was a ringing as their two weapons met with a bang. The alien seemed slightly surprised at how strong Lex was, her eyes widening. Lex grinned slightly, before glancing behind the alien, her grin widening as blood seeped from the wound on her cheek.

"Am I though?"

The alien narrowed her eyes in confusion as the ground around them began to rumble, and a red glow started to form around her body. She was lifted high into the air, just as one of the large wheels with razor sharp teeth appeared and bounced over the ditch they were currently in.

Lex smiled lightly as she sat up, before looking around at the other women in the ditch with her. Okoye pushed herself up from her stomach, looking at Lex with a weary expression. "Flattery, will get you everywhere."

She looked over at Natasha, who sat up and looked back at them, blue alien blood splatter on her pale skin. "That's really gross."

Lex stifled a laugh before getting back to her feet, before she turned to look towards the base of the mountain where Shuri's lab was situated. They heard the sounds of Steve Rogers fighting someone over the comms and telling Vision to run. She looked to Wanda, a serious expression gracing her features. "We should get back to your boyfriend."

They both turned and ran from the ditch.

* * *

Steve heard Lex approach him from behind, the leaves crunching quietly under her feet. If he hadn't been listening for her, he might have missed the sound. "Cap. What's up?" she asked, slowing to stop beside him. When he didn't respond straight away, she looked about as well. Something was coming. Something big. Something powerful.

Steve looked sideways at Lex, who furrowed her brow, a serious expression gracing her usually stunning features. That concerned him, the only times he saw her looking that serious was usually when the extra component in her system was triggered. He raised his hand to his commlink. "Everyone, on my position. We have incoming."

Lex took a low and slow breath, before swinging her stave slowly in one hand and moving to stand before Steve, both watching for any sign of what was coming. The others soon joined them, moving into the forest with extreme vigilance. The forest was silent, all but their breathing.

Suddenly, in the distance, there was a gust of wind that seemed to appear from nowhere, along with a circle of smoke and strange light emanating from it. Everyone was instantly on the alert. Steve noted that Lex seemed to tense in front of him. He wondered where Bucky was, he could certainly use his friend's help right about now. Three Super Soldier's were definitely better than two, even if the one he did have with him was borderline psychotic.

Banner murmured into his commlink through the Hulk Buster. "Cap." Steve's attention was brought back to a man that appeared in the smoke ahead. "That's him." He was purple, which really should have surprised Steve, but nothing did that anymore. He had just battled wave upon wave of aliens, how was this ever going to surprise him?

The alien before him was huge, easily bigger than him, and almost bigger than Thor, who Steve noted was also missing at this moment. Not a comforting thought.

Steve raised his fist, activating one of the shields on his wrist, gifted to him by Shuri and T'Challa. It grew in size, covering his fist, as he began walking to the front of his gathered comrades. "Eyes up. Stay sharp."

The large purple alien threat, Thanos, began walking towards them, a look of contempt on his face. The first to attack him was Banner, in the Hulk Buster suit. He launched himself in the air, raising a fist as he attacked Thanos.

Thanos raised his gauntleted fist, one of the stones embellishing his knuckles glowing blue. The Hulk Buster began to glow blue, and as he dove at Thanos, he became transparent and completely faded through Thanos. The purple alien turned, still focusing his attention on the Hulk Buster suit as Banner crashed to the ground and rolled, before landing roughly against a cliff face. Or so he should have. Instead the faded into the rock wall, before solidifying again, the rock forming around his body.

Steve watched in disbelief as Banner tried to struggle free, to no avail.

He saw Lex look over her shoulder at him. "Steve, this doesn't look good. We need to get Vision out of here or come up with a better plan."

"We just need to stop him. Do whatever it takes!" Steve urged, rushing forward past her himself. He charged at Thanos, who continued to walk calmly towards Vision. As Steve approached, raising his fist to strike, Thanos waved his gauntleted arm, the motion almost careless. A purple wave of matter picked Steve up easily, throwing his aside like a piece of paper.

He landed in the undergrowth, looking back in time to see T'Challa also being thrown aside. Sam soared in, guns blazing as he swooped down. Thanos raised his gauntlet again, using its power to bring Sam crashing down at his feet. Lex was backing up towards Wanda and Vision as Steve struggled back to his feet.

"You guys, I don't want to rush you guys, but you should either come up with an escape plan, or consider the final solution," she said, eyeing Thanos off as Rhodey tried to stop him with a barrage of artillery, that was doing absolutely nothing to the six-foot alien. She looked back and Wanda was glaring at her. "Just saying."

Steve began running back towards Lex, seeing that she was preparing to defend Wanda, as the teen summed up the courage to do what needed to be done. As he did, he heard shouting from across the way, seeing Bucky come charging through the trees, his sub-machine gun raised and shooting at Thanos.

The alien activated his gauntlet again, the power throwing Bucky back. As Steve ran towards Lex, he saw her eyes grow wide as Bucky landed heavily on the ground, dropping his gun and laying still.

Okoye threw her spear at the alien, and Natasha charged towards him alongside her, before both were flung away easily by a wave of Thanos' hand, before he used his gauntlet to trap Natasha within a stone and earth made prison, but all Steve could see was Lex's face. In particular, her eyes. Her face became blank, her eyes darkening to black.

It was almost like the whole forest became still as he watched her trigger.

She charged at the alien, her face contorting to an angry snarl, as she unleashed on the alien. He went to grab her about the throat, but she easily avoided his grasp, using her stave to knock away his hand, before flipping and bringing a knee down against the gauntlet. It seemed to stun him momentarily, but whether it was the actual blow that stunned him or the speed she was currently moving at, Steve couldn't be sure. As she landed, she brought her stave between the alien's legs, dragging his left foot out from beneath him, and making him stumble.

She then raised the stave quickly, the blue Vibranium blade slicing into the alien's face, then his shoulder. Steve was still running towards her when the alien finally managed to block one of her blows, knocking her stave away. It didn't faze her, and she moved to attack again, but the alien caught her punch and hoisted her into the air by her fist. With his other hand he formed a fist, punching her in the gut. Steve sprinted faster to try and save his friend.

"You have fire, child. I knew someone like that once, she was dear to me."

Lex, her eyes still completely blacked out, didn't respond immediately and Steve feared the worst. He slid along the ground, before turning to face the alien who looked down in surprise at him as he punched at his knee. Lex finally moved, kicking out at him and connecting with his rib cage as Steve struck at his face, connecting with his chin and snapping the alien's head backwards.

Thanos dropped Lex, who moved to try and move behind the mad titan, but Thanos activated his gauntlet, a wave of purple matter hitting her roughly and sending her flying backwards into a tree, before he activated another of the stones on his gauntlet, causing the ground to rise and trap her in place. She lay still, her eyes closed.

Steve looked back to Thanos in time to see the mad titan move to grab at him. He caught the purple alien's hand, fighting to hold it in place. Thanos glared at him, sneering at him as he tried to push against the super soldier.

Steve began to yell, trying to force the alien back, but to no avail, as the mad titan pulled his gauntleted hand away from the former captain, before pummelling him with a closed fist. Steve fell to the ground, everything around him growing dark.

* * *

 **Oh...boy...**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	28. Working Through It

**GUYS!**

 **GGGUUUYYYYSSSS!**

 **I legit just saw Endgame today.**

 **No...just no.**

 **But also...so much YES!**

 **Anyway...it's been a long time between chapters, but I was sitting on this one being a quarter written and was just waiting on Endgame to give me some extra fuel and motivation. So here it is!**

 **I want to thank you to everyone who is still here from way back when this one started.**

 **I would also like to thank you to all those that have just joined recently. I couldn't help but notice the lovely reviews I've gotten since the release of Endgame, so I can only assume there are some people who needed more Avengers fix after seeing it. Thanks for choosing me!**

 **Thanks must go to my reviewers since my last chapter: JaliceJelsa4eva, Scarlet Jones, pOmelO, rosafern**

 **And thanks to all those that have joined me since then: briannahlopes, 184881, Emerald Monkey, 707cloud, tricia11114, Edward Cullen's Girl, ScarletJ15, mafiaprinecss01, KeepCalmAndLoveKitKats, thecruelworldwelivein, Ar3miss, mia-dixon-12, RaysonInTheSun, kd123, SkylerBlack, craftychick1110, asulzby, Daughter Of Freedom, KeniaHeras, Trixxi13, Regin, Tsuna De Vongola Decimo, ohhaymisskay, Shopaholic-Pixxie, tammymikaelson-downey, cocopop123, HuntressForTheWolves, Vladvanmoria, Inu-Hanyou2016, garnet011295, SilverKitsuneGrlAngel, BlueMetalXavier, Jessica St Godard, SophieNewman, Jdbecky21, Lahlahh12, KahlanDanvers1988, IssaQveen, Aerynjean, lizziecats, Lone-Wolf761.**

 **WOW that's a lot of names to get through. Sorry if I missed anyone.**

 **Now...big important announcement.**

 *****SPOILER ALERT*****

 **From this chapter onwards, there will start to be spoilers for Endgame. If you haven't seen it yet and don't want it spoilt...DO NOT READ FROM HERE ON.**

 **If you've seen it, or god forbid, don't care, please...enjoy.**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 28 **

**Moving Through It**

When Lex regained consciousness, she noticed two things. The first, the great pain shooting through her head currently. It had been a long time since she had to maintain a fight against unnatural strength like this for such a long time.

The second thing she noticed was the strange stone formation that was currently trapping her to the ground. She tried to move and free herself, but it was quite a snug fit.

She began wiggling free from her stone prison, thankful for her slender frame as she slipped out from beneath the stone and earth. She was quick to look for the others.

She stumbled into the clearing where she found the others gathered. She looked around at their faces, getting all the answers she needed, they'd lost. She noticed Steve sitting on the ground, his face gaunt and distressed, also noting the strange ash that seemed to have settled on the ground around him.

When she stepped forward, several of those gathered there looked up at her, she noted that Natasha seemed relieved somewhat. Their reaction had her curious, until she saw what else was lying before Steve.

Vision's lifeless and colourless body lay beside Steve. The Mind Stone was ripped from his head and his eyes stared into space, all life gone. She bit her lip and felt somewhat guilty. She was quick to push those feelings away when she remembered the last person she had seen with Vision. "How's Wanda?"

Natasha took a sharp breath, looking away quickly. Lex furrowed her brow at the reaction, before looking around at the others again. She noted that Rocket looked miserable and his Tree friend was no where to be seen. She looked at the others again, noting that they seemed to be missing at least half of their comrades.

There was one person in particular who she noticed first and foremost was missing. She looked to Steve, who still hadn't looked up to meet her gaze. "Steve," Lex murmured, trying to gain his attention. He turned his head slightly but didn't look at her. "Where is Bucky?"

She saw Steve's lips tighten into a straight line as his jaw clenched. He didn't respond to her. She looked to Natasha. The Russian looked sympathetically back at her, but also did not respond.

It was Thor who spoke. "My dear lady, he is gone…"

Lex's eyes went wide. "What?" she breathed, her voice hitching slightly in her throat.

"Thanos did it. He ceased the existence of half the universe," Thor replied.

Lex pursed her lips, staring at the Asgardian for a moment. Her breaths became shallow and she felt clammy all over. Lex looked to Steve again, who finally turned to look at her. She saw it in his eyes. Thor was right, Bucky was gone.

She swallowed and licked her lips, before trying to formulate something to say. Anything at all. But nothing would come to her. Her lips began to move, but not of her own volition and instead vibrating violently, as she felt her cheeks and eyes begin to heat. Thor moved to stand beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off, gritting her jaw and glaring up at him before moving to walk away. She had barely moved a few steps when Okoye burst through the trees, a look of horror on her face.

"He is gone!" she exclaimed. She fell to the ground at Lex's feet. Lex stared at the General for a moment, unsure of how to react at the General's behavior. The stoic and witty Dora Milaje leader that she had grown close to in the last few months, was currently hysterical as she began to cry. "T'Challa! He is nothing but ash!"

Lex's brows knitted together in confusion, before she looked back to where Steve and Rocket both sat. They were surrounded by ash. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she was looking at. "No…" she breathed.

"I saw it myself," Okoye sobbed.

Lex looked back at the General in bewilderment, before her face became expressionless and she reached down, hoisting Okoye to her feet. The General looked at her sadly. "We need to check on Shuri, Ramonda and M'Baku."

Okoye gaped for a moment, her face expression becoming one of shock, but she was quick to nod before hurrying away towards the palace.

Lex went to move too, but Natasha called out to her. "Lex, wait." Lex looked back towards the Russian, no expression evident on her face, as Natasha looked from Lex down to Steve.

Steve got to his feet, looking back at Lex. "I'm sorry."

She narrowed her eyes at him, before looking at the others standing in the clearing and watching her with sad expressions, her own expression blank as she took each of them in. Her eyes returned to Steve before she spoke to again. "I've got shit to do."

* * *

Lex had returned to the palace to find that at least half of the guard were gone, although Shuri had managed to survive. The Dora Milaje and Kingsguard that had been protecting her had sadly both vanished into ash. M'Baku had joined them and contacted his tribe in the mountains, and they had confirmed losses as well, but Ramonda was still amongst their numbers.

She had heard from Okoye what had happened while she was unconscious, her mind reeling from the information. Through her own deduction, she figured that Thanos had accomplished what he had set out to do. He evened out the universe, erasing half the population from existence.

She sat with her back against a wall in a hallway of the palace, thinking about everything she had endured in the past few months. Was this karma for her sins? Was this what she got for seeking revenge on the Red Room and HYDRA? Or was this karma for hiding from the world for so long? A breeze blew through the halls, ash shifting along the ground past her. She glanced at the wispy material, watching as it circled along the ground before settling again. Which Dora or Kingsguard was that, she wondered.

She had lived a long time, she had seen a lot of death, by both her own hands and at the hands of others. So why did she feel this way? She didn't understand what was happening right now. She felt like she had been stabbed in the chest, without the actual excruciating pain. It was like a metaphorical pain, like a big hole was there. She didn't understand it at all. The Red Room never prepared her for…this.

She was still dressed in her armour, her knees tucked up against her chest as she sat on the floor. Alien blood and guts spattered across her armour in different places, but she didn't care. She couldn't stop trying to figure out what had just happened, and why she was feeling this way.

As she sat there, she felt something stinging her eyes. They were hot and she realized they were suddenly very moist. She reached up and touched her cheek, realizing that it was also wet, pulling her hand away to see water mingling with the blood from her wounds. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she tried to figure out what was happening.

"I'm going to guess that crying isn't something you've done a lot of?" came a voice. She looked up to see Steve standing at the doorway from the council room where he had been speaking with what was left of the Wakandan council and those that had fought against Thanos' forces.

She looked at him in confusion before looking back at her fingers as she rubbed them with the tip of her thumb. Was that what was happening? She tried to think back to the last time she could recall crying. One thought came to mind. The day her father killed her mother. The day she saw her mother fall to the floor, her eyes lifeless, in a pool of blood. That was the last time she recalled this feeling.

And she had vowed never to feel this way again.

A rush of memories hit her. This feeling. She hated it. She had vowed never to get close to anyone ever again. She never wanted to spill tears for a loved one, so she refused to love anyone, or even get close enough to consider shedding tears over them. She grit her teeth, clenching a fist as she thought about.

She messed up. Again.

She had let herself become compromised. She became attached. This was not meant to happen.

Lex looked up as Steve moved towards her, tensing immediately. Steve raised his hands, looking apologetic, before kneeling and looking at her sympathetically. "You haven't lost anyone that you were close to in a while, huh?"

She clenched her jaw slightly, thinking carefully about how to answer Steve. "What makes you think I care what happens to any of you?" she retorted coldly.

Steve raised a single eyebrow, appraising her for a moment. "You can deny it to yourself all you like, but I saw the way you were with Bucky." At the mere mention of his name, Lex felt like someone had just stabbed her multiple times in the chest. The pain must have showed on her face because Steve quickly reached forward and rested his hand on her arm. "Hey, it's okay."

She threw off his hand, glaring at him. "No. It's not. I'm done with you people. I should never have got involved with any of you!"

She quickly got to her feet and moved to storm off. Before she could even take a few steps, Steve's hand had grabbed her wrist, reeling her around and she slammed into his chest. She tried to force him back, but he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly in place.

"I'm sorry, Lex, but Bucky would get angry at me if I just let you go like that," he murmured as she began to wriggle and try to wrench herself from his grasp, but it was like all her strength had been sapped from her. His arms around her tensed, but she could feel no malicious intent to them. He just held her. She felt him lean his face closer to her ear. "I know I'm not Bucky, but he would want you to know that sometimes it's just better to let it all out, don't hold it in. You're not a monster, you've got emotions and you need to let them out."

At the mention of Bucky, Lex felt the anxiety and emotions inside her beginning to build again. "I…" she began to try and argue, trying to break Steve's grip on her, but while her brain was activating its fight mode, her body didn't seem to be listening. She felt her eyes beginning to heat more, and finally she broke down, tears flowing freely and her breathing rapid and unsteady. Her arms seemed to move on their own, as she clung to Steve, burrowing her face into his chest as her sobbing became louder.

Steve didn't seem uncomfortable by his closeness to her, he loosened his grip on her slightly, using one hand to pat her gently on the back, the other maintaining its hold around her. He rested his head against hers. "It's okay," he murmured again in a low soothing voice. "I'll figure out a way to bring him back, even if it's the last thing I do."

* * *

Lex looked around the shopping mall as she sipped on her cup of coffee. The one perk after the snap was, she needn't look over her shoulder so much. There were more pressing matters in the world over HYDRA.

The people that walked around the mall were subdued, as seemed to be common place in the world at the present time. Everyone had lost someone, or several if they were extremely unlucky. The thought had her bite her lip between sips of coffee, remembering how many of her friends were now gone.

Steve had called her back to the US capital. While the rest of the remaining Avengers continued to try and figure out what to do and continue to try and secure the world, she had refused to be of service, instead staying in Wakanda and taking residence in the mountains not far from M'Baku's tribe. She found the cold comforting. She did not maintain contact with Shuri, Ramonda or the Avengers. And any contact with M'Baku's tribe was for trade only, refusing to meet the Jabari leader and threatening him more than once when he tried to see her.

The Avengers had tried to call on her once before, and she had refused. The pain was still too raw and she did not want to be involved with them. She felt like any attempt to return the world to what it once was, was a futile attempt. She had seen times change through decades; she would continue to do so, alone. Or so she thought. From messages left on her phone, it seemed she was right. Their attempt had been futile. Thanos had destroyed the stones. Their affects were now irreversible.

Nearly six years after the snap, when Steve had called this time, something in his voice made her decide to respond to his request. She didn't know why, the stones were gone. But, something niggled at her, it made her curious. She had not directly answered his call, only listening to the message he left, and opting to make her own way there in her own time and see if she could find out herself what they had planned.

She watched as a child, a young girl, walked hand in hand with an elderly woman. Both looked sad and tired. She wondered if they were both related, or if like so many, the child had been placed in the woman's care due to losing her family. Lex sighed, before taking another sip.

As she was about to get up and make her way back to her hotel, she heard familiar footsteps approaching from her right. She sighed and shook her head as someone pulled the chair out across from her and sat down.

"Low profile not your thing anymore?" Natasha asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows.

Lex narrowed her eyes. "What's the point? Bigger fish to fry in the world now days."

Natasha frowned but nodded. "Steve tell you what's happening?"

"I know I don't need to tell you what he told me; you were probably there." She sighed and shook her head before throwing her empty cup the five metres to the closest bin. Several shoppers raised their eyebrows at the action as they walked past, but Lex ignored them. "And, you'll also know, technically, I didn't answer."

"But you're here."

Lex fixed Natasha with a pointed glare. "I'm beginning to regret that decision already."

"He asked me to keep an eye out for you."

"Let me guess, he knew I would come?"

Natasha looked sympathetically at her. "He was worried about you."

Lex screwed up her nose in response, before narrowing her eyes, something about what Natasha said had her concerned. "Wait, have you...". She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Sure, let's go with that." Steve took this leader business far too seriously sometimes, especially when you considered that she was older than him. She had a feeling she had been watched on occasion. Lex fixed Natasha with a serious look. "And, how have you been?"

Natasha's expression didn't change, but she sighed. "Working through it."

Lex pinned her with a pointed look. She didn't believe that for a second. Natasha appeared to have aged, dramatically, even for the time that had past. She looked like she hadn't slept well in years. Not that she blamed her, it wasn't like she did either. "Well, you've got me now, I guess you better take me to your leader."

Natasha cocked her head to one side, and the slightest shadow of a smile swept across her face. "Wow. A joke?"

"Please, I'm three quarters sarcasm," Lex answered, rolling her eyes and standing up.

* * *

Steve turned as Natasha walked into the room. "Where'd you go?" he asked as she shrugged off her jacket.

Natasha smirked, and motioned to the entrance she had just walked through with her head. "Picked up something at the mall." Steve was confused, albeit slightly pleased. Natasha hadn't gotten out much lately, diving head first into her work of coordinating the remaining Avengers to continue their work around the globe.

He was more stunned when he saw the tall blonde walk through the door, looking around the room with mild curiosity. Her gaze met his, but there was no smile, or mischievous greeting like the old Lex would have done. She nodded once, stopping where she was and continuing to flick her eyes around the room. No doubt, scanning for exits and hostiles.

"It's good to see you, Lex," Steve greeted, deciding not to close the gap between them. He hadn't heard from her in nearly six years, not for lack of trying, and from all accounts of their Wakandan counterparts, she had been careful to ensure that not many others heard much from her either.

She was wearing denim and a large green hoodie, with only a small amount of hair exposed beneath the hood. Her once blonde locks, which apparently had not been natural, were a rich brown at the roots. She looked tired too, her once vibrant and lively face, now shadowed around the eyes.

She leant against the doorway. "What did you want me here for?"

He grimaced slightly at the cold edge to her voice. "We might have a way to turn everything around."

Steve saw her frown, shaking her head slightly, before standing up again and sighing. "This again. How well did it work out for you last time?"

"This time, it's different."

"Really? I highly doubt that."

"Man, this place is awesome!" They all looked to the other side of the room as Scott Lang appeared, an armful of food. "Oh, hey! Super Soldier Lady, what was your name? Lex!"

Steve smiled lightly at Scott. His personality never seemed to be low, even in the worst situations. He looked back at Lex, to see her staring at Scott. She glanced back at Steve. "Please, don't tell me this is your different?"

Steve grimaced and cocked his head slightly. "Well…"

"Lang figured out a way for us to fix this," Natasha piped up, drawing Lex's attention to her. The female Super Soldier narrowed her eyes as she looked between them, one foot in the door, the other poised to leave. She glanced from Natasha, to Scott and then back to Steve.

He looked at her imploringly. "Please, Alexia. I want to fix this." She quickly looked away again, folding her arms across her chest.

She sighed. "You've got five minutes."

* * *

 **Feels good to be back!**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	29. Assumptions

**Hello again!**

 **Thought I might try and get another chapter up.**

 **Lots of thanks to go out, seems like quite a few people like Lex. I mean what's not to love? Little bit of psycho thrown in with good banter and sarcasm. Makes for a good mix, right?**

 **Thanks to p0mel0, AliceCullen3 and rosafern for their reviews.**

 **Thank you also to Acklesldjit, lildavidscat, McFassy, spud329, Spirit92, Lovely-Daisy, mr. uroboros, Alice-Hatter, claryyyy, Kath3rin, JessicaWxo, VanishingDrag0n, retractedmoonlight, Symone1234, kkdall123, loren2002, Jedi-Olympian, YouFoundJojo, LetYourHeartFly and strawberrylily for joining the fun.**

 **So, shall we continue?**

 ****SPOILER ALERT****

 **DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN AVENGERS ENDGAME AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED FOR YOU!**

 **Otherwise...**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

 **Assumptions **

Lex sat in the back of the sedan beside Scott Lang, her mind still sifting through the information she had been given by the trio. It was a lot to take in, and Scott was often veering off on other tangents, but eventually she got the gist of what they were saying.

The problem was, the whole plan depended on having someone with the brain to make the calculations necessary to traverse the Quantum Realm. They needed Tony Stark.

Lex remembered well her last meeting with Tony Stark, although she personally didn't remember all of it. She recalled fighting him in the silo, but only up to the point where the silo collapsed down around her.

She sat with her elbow resting on the door's arm rest, her hand propped against her face as she stared out the window at the scenery that rushed past as they drove through the New York countryside. She saw nothing, though, off in her own thoughts.

"So, uh, long time no see, huh?" Scott said from the other side of the back seat. She didn't look at him, grunting in response. "How's the Super Soldiering been going?"

She shot him a sidelong glance, not moving her head from her hands. "Would you like to find out?"

Scott's expression faltered slightly, before he coughed and looked out his own window.

"Be nice, Lex," Natasha admonished the older woman, twisting in her seat to look back at her. Lex looked at the Russian woman with a deadpan expression. "Those looks may work on the boys, but remember, I've been on the receiving end of them too."

Lex tried not to let the grin that threatened to grace her lips show. Of course, Natasha would know the look, and would now be immune to them. It was part of their training as Black Widows, to silence a man with one look, or to seduce them with another. And Lex was very good at it, when she wanted to be.

Natasha smirked at her before turning back around in her seat.

They were soon driving down a dirt road, towards a humble looking cottage situated on the edge of a lake. Lex climbed out of the car, looking around with mild interest. This was where the billionaire playboy had decided to retire? Surely, there was a catch here. Or that snap changed a lot of things.

She had been receiving constant reports from Steve and Natasha, even if she had never responded to them. She'd heard about the new arrival called "Captain Marvel", not long after the snap had happened. Apparently, a former US Air Force pilot from the 90s who had single-handedly stopped some alien invasion that Lex had never heard about. She had also heard about the return of Stark from space, with the help of Marvel and an alien/cyborg lifeform named Nebula. Both she and Rocket the Raccoon had come from the same crew of space travellers that called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy.

From all reports, Tony had not been well on his return, that could be why he had opted for the quiet life. Then Lex spotted something that raised her eyebrows. Children's toys. From what she could tell, possibly a girl or girls, what with the copious amounts of them. She looked to the patio of the cottage, and standing at the door, with a small girl in his arms, was Tony.

He glanced at all four of them, a concerned expression on his face, before he sighed and put the girl back on her own feet. "Go see mummy, daddy's got to chat to his friends."

Lex's eyebrows raised and she glanced at Steve and Natasha, neither looked surprised. And Scott, he seemed to be beaming at Tony. Knowing that Scott was also a father, she figured he was probably feeling some amount of proud at not being the only dad in the group anymore. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

* * *

Tony sat across from Scott, listening to Scott as he explained his theory. Lex listened, with her back to the pair, watching out over the landscape around them. She leaned against one of the patio supports, her arms folded across her chest.

As she had suspected the second she had seen the child in Tony's arms, he was dead against assisting.

"But what if it doesn't work, what if we change everything?"

She answered then. "I don't think jumping through the Quantum Realm works like that," she piped up. There was silence behind her, and she looked back to find all four were staring at her. "It's not like we are pushing through our own time dimension, we are pushing into someone else's."

"Uh…when did you take an interest in time travel and Quantum Physics?" Stark demanded, furrowing his brow as he looked her up and down. "Last I checked, you were the muscle?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups, Stark, being a scientist, I would have thought you would know that?"

"And there's the muscle I recognise!"

"What did you mean, you don't think that's how the Quantum Realm works?" Steve asked curiously.

"I think these guys watch too many movies. Jumping through the Quantum Realm will dump you in another time line, not into your own. What's happened here has already happened, you couldn't change that. You can only alter it in the present." Tony and Scott stared at Lex, and she looked back at them with a raised eyebrow before sighing, turning to walk away with a shake of her head. "Forget it, I'm waiting in the car."

"She clearly has never watched Back to the Future," Tony whispered, earning a scoff of agreement from Scott.

"I watched all three, thank you very much." She skulked back to the car, slamming the door shut after she had climbed into the back seat.

She slouched into the seat, her teeth grinding as she stewed over Tony's dismissal of her logic. Whatever, she was no scientist anyway. She looked out her window, the lake spread out wide outside. The sun shone down, reflecting off the ripples and a mountain off into the distance jutted high above it. She sighed again, before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone.

She unlocked the screen and opened up the photo album. The screen was filled with a few pictures, taken years ago, in Wakanda. Pictures of her with Shuri, smiling brightly and displaying peace signs with her hands, while the barest of smiles touched Lex's lips. Pictures Shuri had forced her to take with Nakia and Okoye, and even T'Challa, although he never smiled in them.

Then there were the ones that had been taken well before Thanos had appeared, not long after she, Steve and Bucky had first arrived in Wakanda. Shuri had always been taking photos then, it was like the girl had a camera attached to her hand. Well, a system that activated the camera system in built into the palace and labs, anyway. There were pictures of her, Steve and Bucky talking in the hospital, in the labs, she'd even managed to sneak some while Bucky and she were having a heart to heart after they had stopped Tony from killing Bucky.

Lex had been annoyed at first, when Shuri had shown them to her after the snap. Actually, she had been downright livid and yelled at the teen, locking herself away before taking off to the mountains where she decided to remain. That hadn't stopped the teen princess, now turned interim Queen in T'Challa's absence. She had hacked Lex's phone, leaving the photos in her albums, only for her to discover them quite some time later.

She would never admit it, but she was mildly grateful to the stubborn Wakandan.

Her thumb hovered over the image of she and Bucky sitting side by side on her hospital bed, talking as the sun set outside the window they were looking out. She remembered that conversation vividly, he had told her he was going back on ice.

She felt her eyes heat slightly, and was quick to shut the app, taking a deep breath in order to settle her nerves. None too soon, as she saw the others returning to the car. They opened their doors, climbing in and Steve started the car.

Lex was quiet for a moment, looking between the three of them expectantly, but no one spoke. "He said no, I take it?"

"I don't get it!" Scott breathed in annoyance. "I was sure he would do it."

"If you had to risk losing your daughter again, would you do it?" Lex asked quietly. Scott looked at her for a moment, blinking a few times. "He's scared." She gave him a pointed look, before turning to look at Steve, who was looking behind them as he reversed out the driveway. "So?"

"He's not wrong."

"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do?" Scott asked in exasperation. "We need him. What, are we gonna stop?"

"No. I wanna do it right," Steve replied. "We're gonna need a really big brain." Lex saw Steve glance sideways at Natasha as he pulled onto the highway.

"Bigger than his?" Scott asked in confusion. Lex grinned, understanding who they were referring to. Scott looked between the two women, narrowing his eyes. "Okay, you both have the same expression on your faces and it's making me really nervous."

* * *

Lex sat squashed into a booth beside Steve, having refused to sit next to Scott. Steve knew that she found his jokes and constantly jovial disposition agitating at a distance, so he didn't force the issue.

Her shoulder brushed up against his as she tried to move further away from their old friend. It made Steve chuckle to see her react like that. Gees, he would have loved for Bucky to see this.

Bruce Banner, who now took the form as The Hulk, motioned to a huge bowl of scrambled eggs before pushing them towards Scott. "Come on. I feel like I'm the only one eating. Try some of that, have some eggs." His big green mouth splitting to reveal a smile of pearly whites. Lex shifted again, closer still to Steve. Steve couldn't help but chuckle again, but shifted his body slightly, moving his arm to rest on the back of the booth seat behind her and turning his body so his back was resting against the wall, allowing her a little more room.

Lex leaned back against Steve again, this time turning her head slightly. "Uh, what did I miss?"

Steve looked back at Bruce and thought about where to begin.

"I'm so confused," Scott murmured, also staring up at Bruce. It was Bruce, at least it sounded like him and behaved like him. But it was The Hulk's body, all eight-foot, green muscle packed stature of him.

"These are confusing times."

"Right. No, no..." Scott was quick to try and back pedal on his comment. "That's not what I meant. I..."

Bruce looked downcast in response. "No, I get it." He looked from Lex to Scott before a mischievous glint entered his eye. "I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now." He laughed and Lex furrowed her brow and shifted nervously again, her shoulder pushing into Steve's chest. Being that close to her felt strange, but not awkward.

He recalled the last time he was this close to her, straight after the snap. He had held her close in order to console her, knowing full well that Bucky would not have wanted her to deal with it on her own. She had cried for a good five minutes, before shrugging him off and disappearing into the night. He had not seen her again until they departed for New York, and even then, it was not without the persistence of Shuri. She had kept her distance from all of them, withdrawing herself to barely a few words of goodbye.

Steve's attention turned back to the current situation, watching as Scott tried to formulate a sentence in regard to Bruce's new condition.

"Yeah! How? Why?"

Steve felt Lex stiffen slightly at the mischievous grin that appeared on Bruce's face at Scott's question. He chuckled, leaning forward against her back and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. He likes to mess with people occasionally," Steve murmured quietly into Lex's ear.

She turned her head slightly and flicked her gaze up to meet his. "He better be careful who he messes with." Steve chuckled again, squeezing her shoulder, and Lex seemed to stiffen again, a look of concern spreading across her face. She was quick to shift herself slightly to put a small gap between them, shrugging Steve's hand off her shoulder.

Steve immediately felt bad, realizing he had actually made her uncomfortable when he had been trying to do the exact opposite. He had certainly gotten better at dealing with women, but Lex was a whole different kind to what he was used to.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beat," Bruce began, putting his knife and fork down. "Except it was worse for me, because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost. Then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.

"No one blamed you, Bruce," Natasha comforted, looking sympathetically at him.

"I did. For years I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds."

Lex shifted further away from Steve, seeming far more comfortable with Bruce's new form. Steve smiled at her, glad that she was there with them. It was the least he could do for Bucky right now. He couldn't imagine how she could have coped being all alone, in the mountains of Wakanda. He had kept tabs on her, with thanks to Shuri and some of the other leaders in Wakanda. They had all kept an eye on her, concerned for the woman who had at one point helped save Wakanda and their King, T'Challa.

Several children suddenly appeared at Bruce's side, their eyes lit with wonder and awe.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?"

Bruce turned to look at them, smiling brightly down at them. "Yes?"

"Can we get a photo?" They held out a phone towards him, with pleading smiles on their faces.

"100%, little person. Come on, step on up. You mind?" Bruce held out the phone to Scott.

"Oh. Yeah, sure."

"Say "green."" They squeezed closer together. "Green."

"Greeeen." Scott pressed the phone screen a few times, before finally lowering the phone.

"Did you get that?" Bruce asked, leaning towards Scott, who turned the phone for them to see. "That's good."

Scott moved to hand the phone back to the kids. "Don't you wanna grab one with me?" the children looked at him in confusion, shuffling awkwardly. "I'm Ant-Man."

Steve heard Lex cough, obviously to hide a laugh. Honestly, Steve may have felt the urge to laugh himself, but refrained in order not to hurt Scott's feelings. The kids were doing a good enough job of that.

"They're Hulk fans," Scott replied, somewhat awkwardly. "They don't know Ant-Man." He waved them off, trying to appear nonchalant. "Nobody does," Scott sighed. He moved to hand the phone back to the kids again.

"Wait, no, no, he wants to..." Bruce tried to interject. "You want to take a picture with him, right?"

Two of the three children just looked awkwardly at each other, while the smallest of the three began to shake his head. Lex began to howl with laughter, even while Steve tried to nudge her to get her to stop. Natasha looked out the window awkwardly in an effort not to laugh at the situation herself.

"He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either. I don't want a picture with them," Scott said, shaking his head in dismay.

"He's gonna feel bad," Bruce tried to implore the kids, who now looked torn and sheepish.

"Sorry," Scott said to the kids.

"They're happy to. They said they'd do it," Bruce pressed, motioning to the kids with his head.

"I don't want it anymore," Scott muttered, starting to sound annoyed. Steve rubbed his forehead and looked down at the table in an effort not to watch the awkward exchange anymore.

"You'd feel bad..." Bruce said trying to encourage Scott.

"Take the goddamn phone," Scott exclaimed, thrusting it towards the children, who accepted it gratefully before turning to hurry away.

"Thank you, Mr. Hulk."

"No, it's great, kids. Thank you very much," Bruce called after the retreating kids, before throwing a wave up. "Hulk out!"

"Bruce," Steve tried to call his attention back to their conversation. Having a conversation with Bruce had become hard since he had embraced his inner green. While he was Bruce Banner, very few recognized him, but in his Hulk form, everyone knew who he was and constantly wanted photos with him. And he liked to live up to the hype.

"Dab," Bruce said as he tried to perform the pop culture move by the same name.

"Bruce," Natasha said, shaking her head at him.

"Listen to your Mom. She knows better."

"Please stop trying to be the cool dad figure, you look like something off a cereal box," Lex said loudly, flicking his hand finally. Bruce jumped in surprise and looked down at her. She motioned back to the others with her head and Bruce looked apologetic before looking back to Steve.

"About what we were saying..."

"Right." Bruce sighed, thoughtful for a few seconds. "The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."

"Well, you pulled this off," Steve responded, motioning to Bruce. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too." Bruce was quiet for a moment looking around at the group, his gaze resting on Lex last.

She raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to one side. "If you're looking for an awe-inspiring speech about everyone that was lost and returning the good in the world, then you need to look at this guy," she said, motioning with a thumb towards Steve. He couldn't help but smirk a little at that. Even if she hadn't meant it, that had sounded an awful like she actually respected him in a way. "If you want someone to tell you to stop ass farting around and to just get the job done, then you could probably speak to me."

Bruce looked at Lex in amusement, a small smile spreading on his lips again. Finally, he nodded. Steve looked from each of his friends faces. They were going to do this. They would make this work, they had to.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	30. Super Widow

**Good morning!**

 **Had a little time before work this morning, so thought why not?**

 **Many thanks to Rogue Reader, Mithgard, gilmorefreak23, moonkisser, Fantasylover19, Skellix, Emerald180, animexchick, SA Jedi DC of Marvel, Dubstick, and Kieren Grace for joining the fun.**

 **Also thanks to p0mel0, AliceCullen3, rosafern and SA Jedi DC of Marvel for their reviews.**

 **Have a great day!**

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

 **DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

 **Super Widow**

Lex leaned against a pylon in the workspace of the Avengers compound, watching as Bruce and Scott prepped his truck with its Quantum Realm generator with Natasha and Steve standing close by and watching closely.

Scott was suited up in his Ant-Man suit, as he was the one that would be testing their calculations and modifications. Lex didn't buy for a second that this was going to work. She was no great scientist like Tony or Bruce, but her gut said that they were approaching this at the wrong angle and had watched way too many movies over the last few decades.

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one," Bruce said, beginning to flick some switches on the console in front of him. "Scott, fire up the, uhh...the van thing."

"Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby," Natasha said, checking her tablet for the Avengers compound status.

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's," Bruce murmured as he continued to make calculations and alter data on the console.

"Excuse me?" Scott exclaimed, concern in his voice.

"He's kidding," Natasha interjected, drawing both their attention. "You can't say things like that," she hissed to Bruce.

"Just... it was, just a bad joke," Bruce replied hesitantly, as if he couldn't think of a better response.

"You were kidding, right?" Scott asked, fidgeting in his suit by the van.

"I have no idea," Bruce hissed in exasperation. "We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." Everyone looked at him with wide eyes. "We're good! Get your helmet on." Everyone began to move again, even Lex stepping closer to Steve's side.

"You sure about this, Steve?" she murmured quietly enough so that only he heard her while the others continued to hurry about preparing Scott for the test.

"Honestly?"

"Don't finish answering that, I actually don't want to know." Steve looked at her pointedly, but she just shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, continuing to watch the mayhem.

"Scott, I'm gonna send you back a week, but you'll walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds," Bruce explained, continuing to flick controls and switches on the console.

"Makes sense?" Natasha asked Scott, who was beginning to bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Perfectly not confusing," Scott answered, shaking his head.

"Good luck, Scott. You got this," Steve said encouragingly.

"You're right. I do, Captain America."

"In the event that you don't, can I have the van?" Lex asked, the slightest of smirks on her face.

"What? No! It goes to Cass."

"Damn."

"Lex!" Steve and Natasha berated the older super soldier.

"What, can you blame a girl for trying?" she asked, with half a grin, before winking at Scott. He grinned back when he realised what she was doing. The tension in the room had eased, even just a smidgeon.

"On the count of three," Bruce warned, as Scott prepared himself. "3.. 2.. 1.."

Scott disappeared, then just as quickly, reappeared. Except, he wasn't quite the same man. At all.

"Guys? This doesn't feel right."

Lex guffawed and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth in an effort to stop herself from laughing out loud. Standing before them was a child, wearing Ant-Man's suit.

He had to be no older than ten or eleven. "What's going on? Hold on."

"Who is that?" Steve demanded, stepping forward.

"Is that Scott?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, it's Scott!" Scott shouted back, the child looking panicked. Bruce slammed his hand down onto a button on the console and Scott was sucked back into the Quantum Realm. A moment later, another figure popped back out. "Ooh! My back!" he groaned.

Lex couldn't hold it in any longer and howled with laughter.

"Not helping, Lex!" Steve growled, rounding on her angrily, but Lex only managed to shrug as she tried to control her laughter, wiping at her eyes as tears began to roll down her cheeks from laughing so hard. Steve turned back to look at Bruce. "Can you bring him back?"

"I'm working on it!" Bruce retorted, sounding agitated. The old man that was Scott disappeared, and then another figured reappeared, in a small bundle appearing on the floor. "A baby?"

"It's Scott," Natasha murmured, disbelief tainting her voice.

"As a baby!" Lex howled, laughing harder still.

"Bring Scott back," Steve ordered, now sounding far more panicked.

Bruce began furiously moving switches and dials. "When I say kill the power, kill the power," he ordered, causing Lex to finally move to help, hurrying to the main power supply for the van. "And... kill it!" She hit the switch, shutting down the machine.

Another form appeared in Scott's place, Lex hurrying back around the van to see who it was this time.

"Somebody peed my pants," Scott said, moving awkwardly to stand upright.

"Oh, thank god," Natasha breathed, leaning forwards against a console.

Scott was back to his normal self. "I don't know if it was 'baby' me or 'old' me. Or, just 'me' me."

"Time travel!" Bruce shouted, waving his hands in the air, as if displaying a brand-new car or appliance. Everyone looked at him with deadpan expressions. "What? I see this as an absolute win."

Steve rubbed his forehead, before beginning to head for the door. Lex watched him leave, feeling sympathetic. Poor Steve was putting a lot of pressure on himself through all of this. She followed him out quietly and leant against one of the pylons, not saying anything, but watching as he took a deep breath and looked out of the compound's grounds.

He put his arms on his hips and shook his head ever so slightly again. She sighed quietly, before moving to stand beside him. He looked sideways at her, a questioning expression on his face.

"Relax, I'm trying to be nice," she muttered, nudging him with her elbow.

"Gees don't let us rub off on you too much," Steve teased, the smallest of tired smiles appearing on his lips.

"Oh, trust me, you won't." Suddenly, Lex was aware of the sound of a high-powered car approaching the compound. She narrowed her eyes, peering off into the distance and cocking her head to one side. "You hear that?"

"Car?"

They waited in anticipation, before the car appeared. It sped down the driveway, before stopping just past them. It reversed the few feet back to them, the window rolling down to reveal Tony.

"Why the long face?" he asked, looking over the top of his sunglasses at them both. "Let me guess. He turned into a baby."

"Among other things," Steve answered. "Yeah."

"What are you doing here?" Lex asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the car.

"That's the EPR paradox," Tony said, ignoring Lex's question as he got out of his car. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody coulda cautioned you against it."

"You did."

"Oh, did I?" Tony mocked, earning an eye roll from Lex. "Thank God, I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He pulled out what appeared to be a watch from his pocket holding it out to show them. Upon closer inspection, Lex could see it wasn't, but it was a button that attached to the hand. "A fully functioning time-space GPS."

Steve and Lex glanced at each other skeptically, an awkward air amongst them.

"I just want peace," Tony finally said. "Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

Steve sighed. "Me, too."

Lex, although feeling repulsed by the current trajectory of the conversation, pressed her lips together to keep from ruining the two men's moment.

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priority is to bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I found? I have to, at all costs." Tony's eyes darted between the pair. Lex gave him a sympathetic look. While the others had all stayed locked in limbo, pining for friends and family, Tony had managed to move on. Of course, he would be scared, he had a lot to lose, while the others had very little to lose. "And, maybe not die trying will be nice."

Steve gave a reserved smile. "Sounds like a deal." They shook hands firmly, determined yet grim smiles on their faces.

Tony looked at Lex. "And you? Are you happy to be on the same team?"

"Don't give me a reason to throw you out a window, and I won't throw you out a window." Tony furrowed his brow slightly, looking her up and down.

"That's her way of saying yes," Steve said with a sigh.

"Ah." Tony smiled, before raising his eyebrows and motioning to his car. They followed him as he walked to the boot, lifting it open and shifting some things aside. He reached down and began to lift something large, metallic and round, tipping a large collection of dolls out of it. Lex recognized Steve's shield. She had wielded it once, in their fight against Tony. Her chest tightened when she remembered why.

Tony handed it to Steve, who looked hesitant. "Tony, I don't know..."

"Why? He made it for you." Tony forced it into Steve's hands. "Plus, honestly I have to get it out the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

"You're one of those dad's that are against fun, aren't you?" Lex asked with a smirk, quickly pushing the previous memory from her mind.

"Can you imagine the speed she would get up to on that thing? Hell yeah, I'm against the idea," Tony retorted with mock indignation.

Steve smiled, Lex spotting a relieved glint in Captain America's eyes as he gripped onto the shield. "Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team, sorry super widow," Tony murmured, as they turned and began heading back into the facility. "We are getting, the whole team, yeah?"

"We're working on that right now," Steve replied, with a nod to Lex, who nodded in return before turning and heading towards her quarters. She was going to have a busy night ahead.

* * *

Lex strode down the hallway of the Avengers compound, wearing the Vibranium armour that Shuri had developed for her before the fight against Thanos. She swung the rifle she carried around to attach to the magnet on the back and looked down to check the holstered handgun at her thigh was secured as she rounded the corner. Shuri had offered her the blaster she had developed in Wakanda previously, but Lex found a good old fashion Steyr AUG F-88 more to her liking, with hand guns for back up and a knife or two to spare. She also had Clint's retractable stave attached to the base of her back. She had always held onto it, ever since their first meeting way back when the Avengers were at war with one another.

That seemed so long ago now.

Natasha had commented that her Black Widow was showing by her personal armoury preferences. It caused Lex to smile bitterly.

She stopped fast as she heard the heavy footsteps approaching from the other side, but apparently their owner was lost in thought as he rounded the corner and slammed into her.

"Jesus, Steve," Lex berated him as he reached out to grab her, ensuring she stayed on her feet. He sighed as he let her go, looking apologetic, and Lex immediately felt sympathetic. His eyes were red, and he looked noticeably more tired, no doubt still not getting restful sleep.

"Sorry, Lex, I didn't hear you coming."

"I'm designed that way, but I sense like that's not the real reason you're mopey."

"I'm not mopey," he objected, but sighed when Lex folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "I just haven't been sleeping well."

"Five years with a lack of sleep isn't healthy for you."

"I can't help it," he sneered, turning away from her.

She rolled her eyes, it was official, Captain America was tired. He just reminded her of a sulky three-year-old who had missed his nap. She sighed and moved forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, boss, it's not good to bottle the feels up."

Steve raised both his eyebrows and looked at Lex in amusement. "Really? That coming from you?"

She winked. "I don't hide my feelings, Steve, I hide my psychotic tendencies."

Steve narrowed his eyes at her, as if he were trying to decide whether she was joking or being honest. He then looked at her pointedly. "Ok, but that's not what I was talking about."

"What were you talking about then?" she asked in confusion, letting go of Steve's shoulder as he turned to face her again.

"You and Bucky."

Lex felt her stomach seem to leap, and her chest seemed to pulsate strangely. "Er…come again?"

"You heard me," he said with a teasing grin. She narrowed her eyes at Steve as she tried to figure out why the strange reaction to Steve's words. "We all saw it."

She cocked her head to one side, looking up at Steve's face with a baffled expression. "I honestly have no idea what you're getting at right now, Steve."

Steve stared at her for a moment, before his expression changed to one of surprise. "Wait, you really don't even realise it, do you?"

"What?" He stared at her for a moment. "What am I missing here?"

Steve's expression softened. "You loved Bucky," he murmured.

Lex immediately scoffed and began to laugh loudly. She bent over in exaggeration, before standing upright and patting Steve on the arm. "Who said your jokes weren't funny."

"Whose kidding?"

Lex's laugh stopped as suddenly as it had started and she stared at Steve for a moment, her mind racing over several things at once. Steve's accusations, her own body's reactions to the mention of her and Bucky, and her memories of her time with Bucky.

She was quick to push all those thoughts away, shaking her head and pinning Steve with a cold look. "I haven't got time for your silly games, Steve. I'm here because you were Bucky's friend and I was his, not to mention you kept me from being thrown in jail. That's it." She thought over her words for a moment. "And because I had nothing better to do, and M'Baku was starting to annoy me."

"Lex," Steve started, trying to put his hands-on Lex's shoulders in what she figured he deemed to be a comforting action. She was quick to take a step back, turning her body away from him slightly.

"I've got to go, Natasha has found Clint and we are going to get him, by force if necessary," Lex said coldly. "At least, I hope so." A small smirk reached her lips, and she turned away from Steve, striding away with her head down.

Outside, the Quinjet was waiting and ready to go. Lex walked out the main doors, spotting Scott sitting outside and opening his lunch. She snapped her chest rig buckle together, mainly to alert Scott to her presence so as not to scare him. He was constantly complaining about how quiet she was, and she was getting pretty sick of the broken glasses that kept happening whenever she was around him. He was very jumpy.

He turned around, smiling when he saw her. "Oh hey, you coming out to eat lunch too?"

"Do I look like I'm on a lunch break?" she asked pointedly as she folded her arms and pinned him with a bemused look. Scott grimaced before looking her up and down. She glanced up to the sky momentarily, before smirking again, leaning against one of the pylons. "I wouldn't eat out here if I were you, anyway."

Scott's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why not? It's gorgeous out here today."

Her smirk grew in size as she watched the Milano, the spaceship that had brought Tony back to Earth along with their new colleague, Nebula, bank and begin to descend into the yard of the compound. Rocket was lazy and liked to park the ship as close as possible to the building.

As it approached the ground, Scott turned, watching as the Milano's downdraft began to blow across the lawns. The gust of wind soon reached them, blowing the filling out of Scott's taco. Lex stood there, with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face as the Milano landed and the ship opened up to reveal Nebula.

This was obviously Scott's first encounter with the space crew of their current organization, as his mouth was gaping open in shock as Rocket walked down the ramp, followed by Nebula.

"Hey, humie!" Rocket called out, to Scott as he approached. "Where's big green?"

Scott took a moment to recover as Rocket drew level with him. "Kitchen. I think."

"Rocket," Lex greeted, nodding to the walking, talking raccoon that hated being called a raccoon but apparently didn't mind being called Rabbit by Thor.

"Hey Lex, you going out?" he asked, stopping to look her up and down.

"Picking up a package."

"I feel sorry for the package," he said with a wink, before continuing into the building. A raccoon that flirts, it should have been surprising, but nothing surprised her anymore.

"That's awesome," Scott exclaimed, finally coming to his senses as Nebula approached the building. "Hi!"

Nebula looked at him with disdain, before raising her hand and touching her ear piece. "Rhodey, careful on re-entry. There's an idiot in the landing zone." She greeted Lex with a silent nod, before following Rocket inside. Lex hadn't spoken much to Nebula, the alien preferred to keep to herself mostly, and Lex wasn't sure she completely trusted the alien that claimed to be a daughter of Thanos once upon a time.

Lex looked at Scott, who was still gawking in disbelief at Nebula as she disappeared. Lex raised her eyes to the sky, before grinning as War Machine landed with a thud in front of them.

"Oh, God!"

War Machine looked at Scott. "What's up, regular-sized man?"

Scott sighed, looking down at the now empty taco shell in his hand.

Lex chuckled, before turning to head to the Quinjet. "I'll see you guys around, try not to kill each other while I'm gone, wouldn't want to miss the fun." She made her way up the ramp, hitting a button and causing the doors to close.

She looked towards the cockpit, where Natasha was looking back at her, hands rested on the controls. Lex nodded to her, and Natasha turned, starting the Quinjet on its course.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	31. Strange Dynamic

**Guys... omg... I am so dense.**

 **So, since I'm currently working on the hardest part of writing my Endgame scenario, I've been rereading the entirety of my work on The First.**

 **I got to chapter 31, and then read chapter 32 and I realised there is actually a WHOLE CHAPTER MISSING. I'm guessing no one noticed it because the two chapters in question kind of still work.**

 **So I apologise to everyone, I'm fixing the chapters right now, but I assure you, it will be worth it.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 31**

 **Strange Dynamic**

Natasha and Lex flew to Japan, following reports from Rhodey on his investigation into Clint Barton's whereabouts. From all accounts so far, Clint was traversing the globe, hunting down criminals of all sorts, the worse the better. And when he found them, well, the images were graphic to say the least. Natasha looked at the information on the screen in front her, grimacing as she read Clint's new alias, 'Ronin'.

Instead of shooting arrows, he seemed to prefer working with a blade now, and instead of his black and purple signature uniform, he opted for all black with minimal gold, a hood and face covering.

Lex banked the Quinjet, before landing in a large field outside of Tokyo. "One of these days, you need to learn to actually fly, Nat, not just take off," the older Widow commented as she shut down the aircraft like it was second nature. She moved to the back of the aircraft and began gathering her weapons and a few other pieces she thought might be necessary should things go south.

"I never said I couldn't," Natasha replied, picking up her coat and slipping her arms into the sleeves. Lex froze in position as she knelt down to pull ammo from a draw and looked up at Natasha, a flash of annoyance dancing across her features. "I just don't volunteer."

Lex narrowed her eyes slightly, before a smirk graced her lips. "Cheeky bitch."

Natasha gave a small smile to her older counterpart before turning and opening the back hatch of the Quinjet. It was pouring rain in Tokyo, a monsoon currently hovering over the islands of Japan.

"So, according to Rhodey, he's looking at hitting a Yakuza boss named Akihiko," Natasha said as Lex secured her weapons to her back and hips. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction they should expect from Clint, so she was being careful to ensure she was prepared for anything. Natasha reached to the side of the Quinjet and activated a holographic map. A few red dots began to flash on the map. "These are the buildings where this Yakuza faction is based, and sources say that Akihiko could be at any one of these today."

"So, we're splitting up?"

"Don't kill anyone."

Lex pouted. "You take the fun out things, you know that?"

"Steve's orders specifically for you," Natasha said pointedly. Steve had pulled her aside before she had headed out to board the Quinjet. He knew that Lex had a strange passion for violence, but he had worked very hard since meeting her to prevent her from going too far. Natasha had distinctly heard him mutter something about Bucky not wanting her to be in pain under his breath too, but had pretended not to hear him.

Natasha had noticed all the special attention that Steve had been giving to Lex since she had come back, even if Lex herself hadn't. She understood it too. Lex was different, she was faster, stronger, and her mindset was completely different to the rest of them. She hadn't had the opportunity to love since she was six, and then suddenly, she lost a whole heap of friends in one hit when she had finally decided to let people close to her again. Even if she tried to act like it didn't, it had to have had an affect on her.

And Steve wanted to make sure that she didn't spiral back into something she had fought for years not to be. Natasha thought it was sweet, but wondered if perhaps there was another reason he did it. She had seen herself, these last couple weeks, how much closer Lex and Steve had gotten. Whether it was because of a common goal or a common link, it was a strange thing to consider.

"Yo, _comrade_ ," Lex called her attention in Russian, waving her hand in front of Natasha's face.

"Hmm? Sorry." She realized she had been staring at Lex while she thought about Steve's behavior towards his fellow super soldier. "So, which side do you want to take?"

An hour later, and Natasha was strolling down the road with an umbrella over her head, eyes roving between the buildings, looking for the last address she had left to look at. Lex had taken the two locations on the other side of the waterway.

"Nat, I've got eyes on Akihiko," Lex's voice came through Natasha's ear piece. Her heart rate picked up. Finally. "Building 10, block 5."

"Any sign of Clint?"

"Non- wait." There was silence on the other end, and Natasha started hurrying to Lex's last coordinates. She had to hurry, because if she missed her chance now, all their hard work tracking him would go to waste. "I've got activity in the building, seems someone's invited themselves in."

"I'm on my way," Natasha murmured, picking up the pace while still working to appear like she was a tourist on a stroll on a rainy day.

"Akhiko is running, seems Clint's making a mess downstairs. Are you sure you don't just want me to go downstairs and take care of it?" Lex asked.

"No! You could put him off."

"Oh, I meant take care of the Yakuza cronies, not Clint. He knows me," Lex replied, as if Natasha had misconstrued what she had offered. "Could take care of it in two minutes flat."

"Stay with Akihiko!" Natasha heard Lex mumble under her breath but she didn't argue any further. The red head hurried around the corner, hearing a commotion from the building across the waterway. "I'm outside."

"Good, because the fun is coming outside, what a mess!"

Natasha heard crashing and screaming from inside the building as she moved to stand in the shadows of an adjacent building, watching the activity. Men and women were running into the building, drawing swords and shouting in Japanese.

" _It's him! He's after Akihiko!"_

"Natasha, Clint has literally killed every person that's come in to defend this guy, are you sure you don't want me to intervene? It's not that's saying something, coming from me."

Natasha bit her lip, from the tone of Lex's voice, she knew that it must have been bad. Maybe even bad enough to make Lex cringe. "No, we can't risk scaring him off."

There was silence on the other end of the comms. "I hope you know what you're doing, Nat."

She hoped she knew what she was doing too. She would soon find out as there was the sound of breaking glass above Natasha and a body was thrown outside, landing on the road and remaining still. On ground level, a lone Japanese man, well-dressed in a suit and carrying a sword, ran out from inside the same building.

"Akihiko has left the building, I'm coming out from the East of the building," Lex warned. Sure enough, Natasha saw Lex drop from the second floor, silently slipping out a window and landing on a small awning that covered a storage area of the building.

Akihiko stumbled, tripping over his own feet in a hurry to get away, just as there was the tinkling of additional glass and a figure appeared to jump from the same window the body had been thrown out of. The figure landed at a crouch, dressed all in black except for a few gold details here and there. They wore a hood over their head, keeping their face concealed by a black mask.

The Yakuza leader stumbled backwards as he tried to get up and away again. " _We never did anything to you!"_

"You're done hurting people." Natasha bit back a cry. It was Clint, she would recognize that voice anywhere, but she also recognized the underlying tone of anger and pain there.

 _"You're crazy!"_ Akihiko turned and ran at the figure, charging with his sword raised. A sword appeared from the sleeve of Clint's robe, and he met Akihiko's strike with a resounding ring of steel on steel. There was the clang of metal on metal as they blocked, parried and struck out at each other.

"Are we letting him kill this guy, or what?" Lex demanded, looking out from her hiding spot in the shadows. Natasha's mind was racing. She knew she should intervene, but at the same time, it was Clint and she didn't want to hurt him. There was another clang of metal on metal as Clint blocked another strike, before slashing across Akihiko's stomach and then his back. "I'll take that as a yes."

Akihiko fell to his knees, his breathing ragged and holding his stomach. _"Wait! Help me! I'll give you whatever you want!"_ Akihiko began to beg.

Clint approached him, standing behind him and looking down at the Yakuza boss. _"What I want...You can't give me."_

Natasha stepped out from the building, staring at Clint as the body fell from his grasp and he wiped the blood from his sword onto his sleeve. Lex also moved, except her face was completely expressionless and unaffected by what she had just seen. She began to clap, although the sound was muffled by her gloves and the rain.

 _"Bravo, Hawkeye, or is it Ronin, now?"_ Lex mocked in near perfect Japanese, stepping out to block the road ahead of him. Natasha could see from her body language that although Lex kept an air of boredom about her persona, she was on edge, ready for Clint to do anything, including attack her.

Clint pulled his hood back, taking his balaclava off. The rain seemed to get heavier around them as Natasha stopped behind him, the rain hammering on her umbrella. Clint looked from Lex to Natasha behind him.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, looking down at the body as he moved away, turning to face Natasha.

"Neither should you," Natasha retorted, standing resolutely where she was. Behind Clint, Lex began to pace on the road. It reminded Natasha of a caged lion sizing up its prey. She trusted Lex, though, she knew she wouldn't move on Clint unless she needed to.

"I've got a job to do," Clint replied, his voice not revealing any emotion whatsoever, and it hurt Natasha to hear him like that.

"Is that what you're calling this?" Lex scoffed, a smirk appearing on her face. "Looks like fun."

Natasha threw Lex a glare over Clint's shoulder, which she responded to by rolling her eyes.

Clint looked between the two, raising an eyebrow. "I sense a strange dynamic here."

"We're no Black Widow and Hawkeye, but you make do with what you've got," Lex returned shrugging her shoulders.

Natasha sighed, loathing Steve for making her take Lex on this mission right now. "Killing all these people isn't going to bring your family back," she said pointedly to Clint, taking a few steps towards him, stopping when there was only arms-length between them. When he didn't answer, she continued. "We found something. A chance, maybe…"

"Don't."

Natasha furrowed her brow in confusion, as Lex approached closer behind Clint. "Don't what?"

In Clint's eyes, Natasha could see pain there. She knew that Clint's family had been victims of the snap, all three of his children and his wife were gone. That was the pain he was carrying now. "Don't give me hope."

"I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner." She reached out, taking his hand in his and holding onto it tight.

* * *

Steve opened the door to the roof of the Avengers facility, breathing in the fresh air. He needed a break, the back and forth of ideas on how to build the machine they would use to jump through the Quantum Realm was making his head spin.

He stepped out and walked towards the edge, looking out over the compound. Thanos was right about one thing, after the snap, the air purity was much better, but the trade off was not on par with the perks.

He sighed, thinking of all those that were gone. As if losing Bucky once wasn't bad enough, he had to lose both Bucky and Sam at the same time. It wasn't fair. He was glad Tony came around though, with Tony, Bruce and Scott all working together, and Nebula's background knowledge of Thanos, they were going to succeed. They had to.

"You mind?" came an all to familiar voice from behind him.

He turned in surprise, finding Lex sprawled on the concrete behind him. She was dressed in black track pants and a white singlet, her shoes discarded to one side and her hair tied up in a messy bun. It was an interesting look, and not one he was used to seeing on her. She looked very relaxed, as she lifted her head from the concrete and fixed her gaze on him, her deep brown eyes squinting at him slightly as if she was adjusting them to the sunlight.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked, moving to one side and leaning against the railing.

"Me? I'm always up here," she retorted, sitting up and shielding her eyes from the sun. "What are you doing here?"

He raised his eyebrows, he had always wondered where she disappeared to. He folded his arms and sighed, thinking of the mayhem downstairs. "I just needed some air."

"So, you steal my sunshine?"

"Is that what you're doing?" He looked her up and down. "Don't women usually wear…" he felt awkward suddenly and began motioning to his own body.

Lex raised her eyebrows expectantly, a smirk dancing on her lips as she looked back up at him. "Sorry, what was that?"

He sighed. "You know...never mind."

She cocked her head to one side, grinning coyly. "Is Captain America insinuating that I should be in a bikini right now?"

Steve grit his teeth and pressed his lips together. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all."

Lex laughed, clapping, before motioning for Steve to sit next to her. "Relax, Rogers, at your age you'll give yourself a heart attack."

He sighed, doing his best not to smile, before moving to sit next to her. "You mean at my age YOU will give me a heart attack."

She winked at him and nudged him with her shoulder. "Touche." He leant his elbows on his knees as he looked towards the horizon. "The science mumbo jumbo doing your head in?"

Steve pressed his lips together. "That obvious, huh?"

"We are designed to hit things, not to think about why when we hit those things, they break," she reasoned, leaning back on her hands and moving to sit crossed legged.

Steve grimaced and looked back at her in annoyance. "Can you stop saying that you were designed? You're more than that."

She raised her eyebrows at Steve. "Huh?"

"Stop saying you were designed, or made. You're a human being, not a machine," he scolded her. He wasn't sure about what exactly happened to her while she was at the Red Room, or even after that, but to him she was still a person with feelings and emotions. And she clearly had her own willpower, otherwise she wouldn't have survived as long as she had.

She sat forward, looking Steve in the face, her expression seeming to be thoughtful. He felt awkward suddenly, like perhaps he had been out of line in saying so. It was true though, he hated hearing her talk about herself like that. And he had hated hearing Bucky talk like that about himself too.

"But it's true. We were designed, molded to fit into a perfect shape suitable to perform tasks deemed necessary by those who would control us," Lex said quietly, not once taking her eyes off of Steve. He found it unnerving. "Why does that make you so uncomfortable? Is it because you haven't accepted that you're just like us? Created to perform a task?"

"That may have been why we were created, Lex, but that no longer defines us," he retorted, turning to face her fully. "We no longer answer to anyone, we control who we are and what we do. What we do now, defines our future, no one else. So stop saying that about yourself. You're so much more than that."

Lex narrowed her eyes at Steve, who looked away finally. He wasn't used to talking to Lex like that. Deep and meaningfuls were always her and Bucky's thing. Steve was more the inspiring speech type.

"Why?"

Steve turned to look back at Lex in confusion. "What?"

"Why do you keep trying to push this better person bullshit on me?" she asked quietly. There was no malice in her voice or in her expression, she seemed genuinely curious.

Steve faltered slightly, before swallowing and thinking carefully how to answer. "If it wasn't for you, Bucky would have been all alone in Bucharest. If it wasn't for you, Bucky could have been killed by Tony. And Bucky…he cared for you, a lot, even if you don't understand that. You cared for him when I couldn't. I need to take care of you, for him."

She pressed her lips together thoughtfully, before looking up into the sky. Steve could see her trying to understand what he was saying. "I see." He wasn't sure that she did understand, as her expression remained thoughtful as they both looked up to the sky, watching a line of clouds roll in. "You're right about one thing."

"What's that?" he asked, not looking at her, instead staring out over the lake that was within the Avengers facility grounds. He was surprised when she leaned across and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her with a stunned expression.

"I don't completely understand, but I'm okay with it," she sighed, still not moving her head. Looking down at her, he suddenly realized how tired she looked.

Steve reached across with his spare hand, patting her on the head and leaning his own head against hers. "Sorry if I get all righteous on you every now and then, it's a force of habit," he joked, as he felt her rest her hand on top of his that rested on the concrete.

"It's fine, as long as you let me be annoyingly morbid in return." He laughed lightly, pulling his head away from hers and shaking it. "Hey, you like chocolate cake?"

* * *

 **Ok! This is the correct chapter, I'll be shifting the other chapters back so that they all line up again.**

 **Sorry guys!**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	32. Stick With Me

**Hello there,**

 **Got a little side tracked and forgot to upload another chapter...or did I decide to just leave you guys hanging a little longer than usual? I can't remember, haha, busy times. For real though, a friend of mine convinced me to download Lord of the Rings Online game, addiction is real. So you can blame him for the long wait on this update lol.**

 **Thanks must go to Padgent, jazztullock, nameword, aliiceroseee, Daughter of the Oceans, marin93, BlackPachirisu, , KaliRenee, hotstuff142, Procrastinator1, Janeth16, shadowednight1, kitsune-miko-witch, breezzylife12, Driller63, blackroseheart7, tiarna13, Katie Loom, Intheblood29, QuirkyMurderSubject, Leafpoo16985, Transi3nt Star, voicesofmelodies, killyourmind, and Gaarakitty for joining this epic.**

 **Much love to xRaspberryx, p0mel0, mellifera19, AliceCullen3, and INeedMoreMarvel for the reviews.**

 **And to answer your question xRaspberryx... some of the dialogue I have found on fan written transcripts of the movie on the web, although they can often be incorrect, I'm lucky enough that it's enough to jog my memory on what was actually said.**

 **Enough from me now.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 32**

 **Stick With Me**

Lex walked down the hall, meandering through the Avengers building without much focus on where she was going.

She had slept in this morning; her nights most recently been spent sitting up with Steve and watching movies. Neither wanted to sleep, for fear of the things they might see or experience. She never imagined she would do such a thing such as fall asleep on the lounge with Steve, but it had happened on more than one occasion. And on more than one occasion, Natasha had walked in to find them leaning on each other while asleep.

Lex wasn't fussed by the coy grins her fellow Widow threw their way, but clearly, Steve was. He always had a bashful expression on his face, and his cheeks crimson, like he was a child that had been caught doing the wrong thing. It often made Lex chuckle.

They had reached an agreement. Lex was giving Steve a movie education. Even though it had been a few years since he had come out of the ice, he still had a ways to go until he had seen all the best movies, in her opinion. Although, it was more that Lex didn't give him a choice in the matter, and Steve seemed quite content to just not go to sleep on his own.

The female super soldier stopped fast when she heard voices in the main hangar of the compound, where she knew the science types had been building the machine that they hoped would send them through the Quantum Realm. She quietly made her way towards the entrance, looking around the corner to see the gigantic construct finally appeared finished.

"I still can't believe 'Back to the Future' was bullshit," Scott said as he, Tony, Bruce, Rocket and Nebula worked around the console and machine, tweaking panels and flicking switches.

"I could have told you that," Lex said, stopping next to Steve, who stood with his arms crossed while he watched them work, with Natasha beside him. The others glanced in her direction. "Oh, wait, I did."

"I still can't get my head around how you have any idea about Quantum Physics," Tony muttered as he checked over the special suit Clint was wearing.

"I still can't get my head around how people actually like you, but that's none of my business," she muttered, earning her an elbow from Steve. "What?"

"Cut it out."

Lex rolled her eyes but turned her attention back to the job at hand. Clint walked up the ramp to stand on top of the construct. He looked nervous, and honestly, Lex felt nervous for him. She had offered to be the first to go, but Steve had been strictly against it, citing that if something were to go wrong, they would be a strong pair of hands down. She suspected it had more to do with his one-sided promise to Bucky, more than anything else. Some of the others had vocally agreed immediately with Steve's reasoning, while others had remained quiet and skeptical.

Finally, Clint turned to face them, as Tony and Bruce began moving dials and switches on the console in front of them. The helmet on Clint's suit activated, closing over his face.

"Okay, Clint. We are going in 3, 2, 1…"

There was a flash and Clint disappeared. Lex clenched her jaw, her fingers tightening around her arms as she waited for his return. A few seconds later, and Clint reappeared, falling to the floor of the construct as if he had tripped or jumped.

Lex released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as Clint looked around wildly, before he moved to stand up. The others hurried forward in anticipation.

"It worked?" Bruce asked.

Clint looked straight at Natasha, holding out something black in his hand. "It worked." As they crowded around him, Lex could see it was a black baseball mitt. The look on Clint's face told her that this was obviously something of great relevance to Clint, but the mitt meant much more for them.

They were about to pull off Scott's 'Time Heist' and steal the Infinity Stones and reverse Thanos' snap.

* * *

They crowded into one of the board rooms in the science wing of the compound. Each held a clipboard or notebook and there were piles of files on the board table in front of them.

Steve stood at the front with Natasha, who began to activate the holographic board, moving images of infinity stones around along with information about the stones.

"Okay, so the "how" works. Now we gotta figure out the "when," and the "where," Steve began to explain, motioning towards the images. "Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well, I'd substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones.'" Rocket commented. Nebula appeared unmoved beside Rocket, listening intently instead. She never spoke much.

"I haven't," Scott said, looking around with a shrug. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Ditto, I've never even seen one until Thanos brought them to earth," Lex also piped up, leaning back in her seat and putting her hands behind her head as she slouched. "Or, if you count when I first met Vision. First I had heard of them." Steve frowned at the thought. Surely, there had to be a time when she was close to one at some point in her life. She was 120 years old.

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Natasha explained, pointing to some of the locations that appeared under a couple of the stones, one in New York, one in Morag and another in the UK.

"Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in," Tony added, looking thoughtful.

"Which means we have to pick our targets, and acquirers, very carefully," Lex said, running a finger over her lip as she looked at the images. Steve couldn't help but notice she seemed to be taking the current situation more seriously than anything else they had done recently. If you didn't count her 'movie culture education lessons' that was. She took those very seriously.

"Correct," Tony said, agreeing, before opening a bag of dried blueberries and beginning to pop some into his mouth. "Anyone?" he offered the bag to Lex.

She pulled a face and drew back from it. "Ew."

"So," Steve began, looking back at the hologram and then around the room. "Let's start with the Aether." He looked to Thor, who was sitting in a chair in the corner, a pair of sunglasses on. He had packed on the weight since their last mission to take down Thanos, the lack of closure hitting him hardest of all it seemed. As Rocket had once said, Thor blamed himself for the snap and all that followed, and took it badly. "Thor, what do you know?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at Thor. "Is he asleep?" Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes as they all stared at the Asgardian. Lex frowned, glancing at Steve. He sighed and went to move towards Thor, but Lex beat him to it, picking up her 3/4 full water bottle and pegging it at him. It hit Thor in the dead centre of his forehead.

Thor jumped, holding his head and groaning. "What?"

"Care to enlighten us on the Aether, Thor?" Steve asked, while throwing a warning look at Lex. She shrugged in a nonchalant manner, batting her lashes innocently at him. He couldn't help but smirk a little.

Thor slowly stood and made his way towards the screens, adjusting his clothing to hide his belly as he went. "Where to start? Umm...The Aether, first, is not a stone," Thor began, motioning to the image of the Aether. "Someone's called it a stone before. Ahem... It's more of a... an angry sludge, sort of thing."

Steve frowned, as he watched Thor continue. He wondered how the proud Asgardian could have fallen so hard from his once proud and strong attitude.

"So... Someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that. Here's an interesting story, though. About the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Scary beings. So, Jane..." At the mention of the physicist, the screen changed to show an image of the young doctor. "Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine. She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time...and then the Aether stuck itself inside her."

Steve noted the dumbfounded and sympathetic looks the other Avengers were giving Thor as he continued to drone on about his encounter with the Aether. Lex looked down, beginning to massage her temples. Clearly, she was trying her best not to make a snarky comment, which Steve had to admit, he was grateful for her effort.

"And, she became very, very sick. So, I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother...who's dead, and umm..." He paused for a moment, a dark expression appearing for mere seconds, before he continued again. "Oh, you know. Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so... These things happen though, you know. Nothing lasts forever." There was an awkward silence in the room as the others avoided looking at Thor. "The only thing that..."

"Why don't you come sit down?" Bruce offered, motioning to a chair beside him.

"I'm not done yet," Thor retorted frowning at Bruce. "The only thing that is permanent in life, is impermanence."

"Awesome," Tony muttered.

"Good lord, they broke the God of Thunder," Lex muttered, resting her head in her hands.

* * *

Lex sat at the dining room table; a file open in front of her as she chewed on some cereal. The others were also in the kitchen, Tony was cooking, Natasha was trying to ply Thor with something other than alcohol, while Nebula and Rocket were sat across from her. Rocket was snacking on the rest of her box of cereal, while Nebula sat with her arms crossed, looking completely void of any emotion, as per usual.

"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag," Rocket said in-between mouthfuls of cereal.

"Is that a person?" Bruce asked with interest.

"Morag's a planet," Rocket explained. "Quill was a person." Lex noticed Rocket's tone quietened slightly at the mention of Quill. She understood that Quill was, more or less, the Guardians of the Galaxy's leader. As well as their friend. So, she could sense that Rocket felt a pang of sadness thinking of any of his friends that were gone. She understood his pain.

"Like a planet? Like in outer space?" Scott asked with interest, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything," Rocket said, beginning to mock Scott. He clapped his hands in front of him, leaning towards Scott. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

"Rocket…" Lex warned, seeing Scott beginning to grimace. "I'll take the cereal box off of you." Rocket frowned in response, before quickly grabbing the box and jumping down from his seat, walking away. Lex looked to Steve, who raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

She rolled her eyes; she knew what he was thinking. Look at her, being all responsible and shit. She was well aware that Steve was trying to mould her into this 'better' person. It annoyed her whenever he looked at her as if to say 'see?'.

Lex looked to Nebula; whose focus was on nothing in particular. That was standard for Nebula. She didn't speak unless spoken to or if she had something that was of importance to say. "Nebula, what about the Soul Stone?"

Nebula's focus shifted to Lex. She found the alien unnerving at times, particular as it looked like the part cyborg tended to appear to look through you. "Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir."

"What is Vormir?" Natasha asked, curiously as she sat beside Lex with her own bowl of cereal.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence." Nebula looked down for a moment before speaking again. "It's where... Thanos murdered my sister."

There was silence all around, but Lex was unperturbed. She had no family; she had seen her mother murdered by her father. "Noted."

* * *

Lex sat on the floor with her back against a wall, staring at the screens with the Infinity Stones pictured, occasionally throwing popcorn at either Scott or Rocket, who would catch it in their mouths. She was so over trying to figure out which timeline they were going to enter. She couldn't just leave; Steve had sat next to her and every time she tried to leave he would grab her and drag her back in.

"That Time Stone guy..." Natasha began, speaking up from where she was lying on the board room table on her back.

"Doctor Strange," Tony corrected, throwing a ball of paper into the air and catching it. He was also lying down on the table.

"Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?"

"Neuro-stuff meets rabbit from a hat," Tony answered simply as Lex threw more popcorn at Rocket, who caught it in his mouth easily.

"Nice place in the village, though," Bruce added from his chair at the end of the board room table.

"Yeah. Sullivan Street," Tony agreed.

"Hmm... Bleecker."

"Wait, he lived in New York?" Lex asked, whipping her head to look at Tony. Natasha sat up, looking thoughtful too.

"No. He lived in Toronto."

"Yeah, not Bleecker. It's Sullivan," Tony corrected again, throwing the paper ball up into the air again.

Lex hurried to her feet, rushing over to the screens and adding in calculations, Natasha jumping off the table to join her. She added dates and times and suddenly the solution dawned on her. She looked sideways at the smaller Widow.

"Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York," Natasha exclaimed as the images moved. Three stones pushed together under the title of New York. The Space Stone, the Time stone and the Mind Stone.

"Shut the front door!" Tony exclaimed, catching the ball and sitting up to look at the screen.

There was silence for a moment as everyone took in the information on the screens. Nebula broke the silence.

"The front door is already shut."

* * *

They began to set to work, plotting ways to take possession of the stones without causing too much of a disturbance. And in particular, they didn't want to run into themselves. As Lex had explained, and now re-explained with Bruce's assistance, it wouldn't cause any harm to their timeline, but it would certainly cause a commotion as would be expected if you ran into the exact same, but perhaps older looking version of yourself.

"So, we know who is going to Morag and to Vormir. Whose got New York?" Clint asked, folding his arms as he looked at those who had not yet been tasked.

Lex looked around the room, it was only herself, Steve, Tony, Bruce and Scott who had been left without a tasking. "Looks like it's us."

"We've got to get three different stones simultaneously," Tony said with a nod and looking thoughtful.

Steve folded his arms. "The Tesseract and the Scepter will be together, but the Time Stone will be across town," he added thoughtfully.

"And Stephen Strange isn't just going to hand it over," Lex pointed out. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first time you requested the stone, Tony, he was very hesitant to hand it over."

"She's not wrong."

"I think it would be safest if I go and get the Time Stone. Especially because I'm harder to hide in plain sight. I kind of stand out. I can carry on like I used to and head over to the sanctum," Bruce offered, putting his hands on his hips.

The others were thoughtful for a moment, before Steve nodded. "That's a sound plan."

"Right, so that just leaves the other two stones," Scott said looking hopeful.

Lex frowned. "Did the Tesseract ever leave your possession?" she asked looking between Steve and Tony.

The billionaire raised his eyebrows at Lex. "I like your new girl, Cap, she's a thinker."

"She's not my girl."

"I'm not his girl."

The pair answered simultaneously, Steve's cheeks going pink, while Lex simply raised an eyebrow at Tony while folding her arms. The room was silent, lest for Clint and Rhodey trying not laugh from their seats at the end of the table. They quietened when Lex shot them an icy glare.

"Wow…" Rocket said looking between the two. "That was creepy."

"Anyway," Tony continued, looking between Clint and Natasha. "Super Black Widow is right. Remember when we took the Tesseract downstairs and Pierce wanted the case from us and we had a minor argument with him about it?"

"Right, Thor wanted to take it and Loki home, but Pierce didn't want them to be released to Thor," Natasha recalled.

"It's an opportunity we could take advantage of, I bet, we could even make enough of a distraction that no one would even notice the case is gone before we are back here," Tony offered, looking from Steve to Scott and Lex.

"You've got an idea?" Lex asked, noting the particular look that Tony always got when he had an idea, whether it be at making trouble or an actual idea that was useful. She'd seen it a couple of times in the past few weeks, when he found the time to play pranks on them. She often wondered which out of he and his daughter caused his wife the most trouble. Her money was on him.

"Back then, my arc reactor was controlling my heart, I bet tiny here could pop in there and trigger a cardiac arrest. That should create a bit of action and let me or super psycho slip in there and grab the case without being noticed." Lex raised an eyebrow at Tony's jab at her, but said nothing in response. He wasn't wrong after all.

"Uh… wouldn't that kill you?" Scott asked incredulously.

"It'd be fine, easy fixed," Tony answered, waving Scott's question off.

"Even if you didn't know what happened?" Lex asked, raising both eyebrows with a smirk on her face. She liked the idea, but thought Tony seemed a little blasé about it. Not that it bothered her, it was his life.

"Relax, I have faith in myself."

"Course you do," Lex replied, rolling her eyes.

"So, what about you?" Steve asked, interrupting their banter with a nod as he looked down at her from across the table.

She looked up at him expectantly. "What about me?"

"Where were you when New York happened?" Steve clarified his question.

Lex pressed her lips together and was thoughtful for a moment. "The UK, from memory. Because the following year I had to sneak out after bozo and his alien friends tore up London."

"Oh yes, that was fun," Thor commented, smiling as he looked thoughtful.

"So, we don't have to worry about running into you?" Scott asked, although it sounded strangely like he was relieved at the thought.

"Not at all."

"We should use that to our advantage. No one recognizes her, she can be seen in plain sight without fear-" Steve began, beginning to pace like he always did when he was running a plan through his head.

"Hold up, HYDRA still knew who I was back then, Steve. Pierce at least, will be very excited to see me."

Steve frowned, looking at Lex thoughtfully for a moment. Lex stared straight back at him, cocking her head to one side, until he finally sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I'll go after the scepter; you can stick with me."

"Fun." He gave her a bemused look before looking back to others. "Let's start planning this."

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	33. Obnoxiously Optimistic

**Hello hello,**

 **Its me again, taking a ridiculously long time to update, and I apologise for that.**

 **Life's been keeping me busy, but it will be slowing down a little for the next couple of months so I will try and get more chapters out over the coming weeks.**

 **Many thanks to QueenBookDragon, AnUnexpectedAdventure, Keys25, Elsa - 18, chena98, Snowball A.K.A. WinterWolf, nityag2003, boofrog04, ExiaDark, Eliza1964, UnicornFlight98, ibaibaibaibaibaibaibaibaiba, hotpocketbbg, sillystring-roxs-the-earth, LivForMusic, GoddessOfShadows, adorablygranger, Jim Adames, chrissyweir, and MissImperfect1996 for choosing to stay up to date with this little tale. I should really work on updating more regularly again just so my thanks doesn't take me over half an hour to write hahaha**

 **Thanks also to reviewers Janeth16, AliceCullen3, leeny len, xRaspberryx, mellifera19 and p0mel0 for taking the time to write too!**

 **And now, you've waited long enough.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 33**

 **Obnoxiously Optimistic**

Lex walked up the ramp, fidgeting in her suit slightly. She was so preoccupied she nearly ran into Steve as he stopped.

"You good?" he asked looking back at her in amusement as he turned around.

"I hate these things. What's wrong with a pair of jeans and a baggy top? Seriously? Why's everything got to be tight?" she muttered in annoyance.

Steve smirked at her and shook his head, before looking around the group solemnly.

Today was the day, they were heading through the Quantum Realm and taking the stones. Steve, Tony and Scott were lined up alongside her. They were going to the New York timeline to get the three stones there. If they lined it up perfectly, they should be dropping in right when the Avengers were dealing with Loki.

Steve stood tall and looked around at every single person that was ready to make the jump. "All right. We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot," he began. Lex pressed her lips into a thin line as she looked down at the floor in the centre of the group, careful to not to look at anyone. She knew what was about to be said and she immediately felt anxious as she remembered what she had lost. "Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves." There was silence all around as Steve spoke. "Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams; you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win." He paused, looking around at everyone one more time. "Whatever it takes. Good luck."

Lex took a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked around at everyone, seeing most with looks of hardened determination on their faces, lest for Thor. He looked pretty miserable.

Rocket raised his eyebrows and nodded towards Steve. "He's pretty good at that."

Scott grinned proudly. "Right?"

"Ugh!" Lex groaned, rolling her eyes.

Tony clapped his hands together once. "All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jelly green."

"Tractors engaged," Bruce called out in response, before hurrying back up the ramp.

Clint looked down at the miniaturized Milano starship he held in his hand. Rocket looked at the archer pointedly. "You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay," Clint huffed, with the slightest of smirks on his face as he glanced from the raccoon to Lex, who raised her eyebrows with her own smirk on her face. "I'll do my best."

Rocket narrowed his eyes at Clint. "As promises go, that was pretty lame."

"See you in a minute," Scott said nodding to Rhodey, who was standing directly across from him in the circle of Avengers.

Lex steadied herself as they landed in a back alley of New York. She looked around wildly as she heard a roar overhead, seeing ugly aliens launching themselves from buildings and onto the streets below.

"Whoa…" she breathed as she disengaged the helmet of her suit. She knew of the attack in New York, she had watched it with great interest on TV when she was in the UK. But this, this was different. "They're even uglier in real life."

"You think that's bad, wait until you see what they look like from the inside. Where were you when this was happening, pray tell?" Tony asked mockingly, also removing his helmet and starting to take off his suit.

"UK, Surrey, to be exact. It was all over the news though," she explained removing her own suit, watching as the aliens zoomed overhead, squealing as they went. "Still, I thought I had seen everything."

"Something you'll learn with us, kid," Tony said, putting his arm around Lex's shoulders. She stiffened under his touch and looked at him with disdain. "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

She narrowed her eyes at the billionaire, before grabbing his hand by his thumb and removing it from her shoulders, making him yelp in pain. "First of all, I am older than you, so you can piss off with your 'kid' business. Secondly, don't touch me if you ever want to be able to pick up your daughter ever again."

Tony was quick to remove his hands from Lex, glaring at her in horror.

"Hey, cool it, Lex," Steve warned, moving to stand between her and Tony, drawing her attention to his face. "We're on the same team here."

"Sure, so if this team could respect my personal space, that'd be great," Lex responded without missing a beat, looking out of the alleyway they were standing in as there was a monstrous roar from above. They all followed her gaze as a green blur appeared, landing on a car and causing all the windows to explode outwards. "Wow."

She glanced sideways at Bruce, who watched on sheepishly as his timeline double launched himself into the air again, roaring as he landed against the walls of the skyscrapers adjacent to them, smashing his fists against hordes of aliens, before launching to a building across the street and making his way downtown that way. He looked down at her, shrugging in exasperation. "It wasn't one of my best moments in time, okay?"

"I don't agree," she said with a grin, as Tony and Steve moved back into the alley, with Scott close behind. The pair joined them, Lex adjusting the SHIELD uniform she was wearing. "So?"

Steve turned to face the rest of their group. "All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone, down," he began, looking at each of them in turn as he spoke. "Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock."

Behind them, there was another almighty crash, as the Hulk crashed to the ground again, before picking up a car and throwing it at a group of aliens.

"Nice…" Lex praised quietly, earning her an elbow from Steve. "What?"

Steve looked back to the Hulk as he slammed a fist against another car and then roared into the sky. The sound rattled Lex's bones, but she still smiled at Bruce, who was trying not to look at his past self, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Steve, who was still watching Hulk as he turned and ran down the road, finally spoke again, glancing sideways at Bruce. "Feel free to smash if things don't go your way."

Bruce sighed, before removing his shirt and tossing it aside with their suits. "I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." He made a fist and brought it half-heartedly down onto a wrecked car, making a soft growl sound. He cleared his throat, trying again with only a slight improvement.

Lex snickered to herself as Bruce glanced back and grimaced, before taking off down the street. Poor Bruce, he had worked so hard to improve on himself, and here he was, acting the monster again.

Steve sighed and shook his head, before looking back to the others. "Come on."

* * *

Lex slipped on a balaclava and helmet as she and Steve stepped out of the fire escape of the Stark Tower, onto one of the mid-level floors. She hurried to keep up with Steve, replacing the gloves of her uniform. "I don't get why I couldn't just dress normal."

"Even in your everyday clothes, you stand out Lex," Steve answered, moving to check around a corner as she slipped in behind him.

"No, I don't!" she retorted.

"You're six foot, blonde and…" Steve hesitated, glancing back to look at Lex for a moment, his eyes roving over her. She raised an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly, smirking into her balaclava. The pink on his cheeks did not go unnoticed. "You turn heads, okay?"

"Hey Cap, while it's all very nice that you're trying to tell Lex she's hot, you've got to hustle," Tony interrupted through their comms system. "Things look like they're just about wrapped up here."

Lex tried her best not to cackle as she saw Steve take a deep breath and grimace, his cheeks definitely turning a shade of red in the process. "Got it. We're approaching the elevator now." They moved in sync, Lex moving her rifle into a more comfortable position in front of her, with her finger poised beside the trigger. While there was no immediate plan for her to actually discharge the weapon, it was a force of habit and made her feel comfortable. The rifle was more or less for show, but they had decided having life ammunition would probably be best, just in case. "Besides, weren't you the one that said that Pierce would recognize you the second he saw you?"

She bit her bottom lip in annoyance, only grunting in response as Steve looked back at her pointedly. He was right. During the years before and after the alien invasion, she had long been off the immediate top of the HYDRA list of targets, thanks to the likes of The Winter Soldier, a numerable amount of 'Inhumans' and Steve's bringing down of the HYDRA agency from within SHIELD, but they were still well aware that she was around.

They made their way along the corridor towards another elevator at the far side of the tower in silence.

"Ugh, Mr. Rogers," Tony's voice broke through the silence on their comms. "I almost forgot that 'THAT' suit did nothing for your ass."

Lex stifled another laugh, forcing her lips together in the effort to prevent making any unnecessary noise. "No one asked you to look!" Steve hissed in annoyance, Lex spotting his cheeks beginning to go even redder from embarrassment.

"I think you look great, Cap," Scott interjected over their comms. "As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass."

A quiet laugh escaped Lex's lips, earning her a glare from Steve and she was quick to press her lips together again before shrugging. He sighed, shaking his head and continuing towards the elevator.

Tony's voice came through their comms again. "All right, Cap. I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the 80th floor."

Steve glanced back at Lex, who nodded once, acknowledging the intel. They were up. "On it."

Lex hurriedly hit the call button on the elevator, before stepping aside for Steve to stand in front of her. "So, America's ass?"

"Not now, Lex."

"I dunno, I think I could get used to it. The name, I mean, your ass really does nothing for me," she replied quietly, smirking under her balaclava as she glanced down at the topic of conversation.

"Wipe the smirk off your face, we've got a job to do," he muttered, looking up at the elevator floor numbers with a serious expression on his face.

"Okay, your ass isn't that bad. I'll admit it."

Steve's eyes snapped to Lex and she saw the tell-tale pink tinge reaching the tips of his ears and across his cheeks. He glared at her but was quick to clear his face of any expression as there was the sound of a ding, announcing the arrival of the elevator. Lex quickly straightened, schooling her face of all expression and waiting patiently for Steve to lead the way.

Inside the elevator, several men dressed in black tactical gear stood surrounding a bald-headed man dressed in a finely pressed, black suit. In his hand, he held a large metal case. It was the scepter. The man in the suit looked at Steve with a puzzled expression, before eyeing Lex as Steve stepped into the elevator. He greeted Steve. "Captain. I thought you were coordinating search and rescue?"

"Change of plans," Steve replied, offering a ghost of a smile to the man. Lex stepped into the lift and stood closest to the door, angling herself so she could watch all the men in the elevator, with the wall of the elevator at her back for protection.

The man to Steve's left, who was in charge of SHIELD's special tactical team, that was actually entirely made up of HYDRA grunts, looked sideways at Steve. "Hey, Cap."

"Rumlow." Steve had debriefed her on all the men in the elevator, and she was well aware of how dangerous it was for her to be there. They were banking on the fact that these men shouldn't know her identity, as they were simply grunts and not intelligence men.

The man carrying the case was named Sitwell, and she recalled the name from her investigation into her past and the formula used on her as a teen. She regretted not reading up on him while she was in the archives.

Steve glanced over to Lex, and she blinked in response. She was monitoring the men behind him, checking to see if any were getting itchy at having him there. They were all throwing shady looks his way, but none made a move to react to his presence. "I just got a call from the Secretary. I'm gonna be running point on the scepter."

Sitwell, and the rest of the HYDRA agents, looked to Steve in surprise. "Sir? I don't understand."

"We got word there may be an attempt to steal it," Steve answered easily. Lex had to admit, he was playing his role well right now, but she continued to maintain a watchful eye over the men surrounding them.

"Sorry, Cap. I can't give you the scepter," Rumlow objected, eyeing him suspiciously, before his gaze moved towards her. She didn't react, simply watching the unfolding conversation. She noted his gaze lingered on her body and his eyebrows raised slightly as he realized she was a woman. A carnal glean entered his gaze as his eyes moved up to meet her gaze. She subdued the urge to reach across and pull his eyes out of his sockets. It was a pretty easy feat, she'd done it once or twice before.

"I'm gonna have to call the Director," Sitwell said finally, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.

"That's okay, trust me," Steve murmured, offering Sitwell a malevolent smirk that made Lex feel a twinge of pride. She'd been working with him on that ever since they had decided on the plan several days earlier. He leant towards Sitwell, before whispering into his ear. "Hail HYDRA."

* * *

Steve and Lex hurried along a corridor on their way out of the tower.

"Aww, Steve, that performance made me so proud," Lex gushed as she hurried along beside him, taking her helmet and balaclava off.

"I feel disgusting," he retorted, pulling a face as he looked around nervously. "Put your balaclava back on, someone might see you." He had managed to pull it off, convincing the undercover HYDRA agents to hand over the scepter, and it really hadn't been that hard either. What concerned him was how easily they believed he had been turned. Was that because of how gullible they were? Or was him turning really that believable?

Suddenly, he heard a commotion over the comms from Tony and Scott. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were both panicking. He stopped fast, glancing at Lex, whose brow furrowed with a concerned look of her own. "Tony, what's going on?" he demanded over the comms, trying to decipher what was happening with Tony and Scott. Lex moved a little ahead of Steve as she tried to look down into the lower levels of the tower from their current position on the catwalk. "Tell me you found that cube."

There was incoherent babble on the comms, and Steve clenched his teeth in frustration as he began to slowly walk again. Steve knew this could only mean bad news. He was so concerned about what was happening, listening from any word from Tony or Scott, he didn't notice Lex stop fast in front of him and ran into her back.

He stumbled slightly and looked up in surprise, before groaning. "Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

Ahead of them, was him. The current timeline version of him. He raised his hand to his wrist and spoke. "I have eyes on Loki. 14th floor."

"Really?" Lex asked incredulously, glancing sideways at Steve as he moved to stand protectively in front of her. The other Captain America's eyes darted between him and Lex, furrowed slightly. Obviously, having Lex there confused him, as Loki didn't have any offsiders unless they were influenced by the staff.

"I'm not Loki," Steve began, as he heard Lex flip the safety on her rifle off. "And we don't wanna hurt you." He looked pointedly at Lex, hoping that she understood what he wanted. He didn't want her to shoot, because first and foremost, they didn't want to hurt anyone in this timeline, and secondly, it would draw more attention. She pouted sullenly but flicked the safety back on.

He looked back to his 2012 version, hopeful that perhaps he would see reason.

He did not. Captain America ran towards them.

Steve tossed the case to Lex, who dropped her rifle and moved to duck as both men threw their shields at each other. There was a resounding clash and both shields ricocheted away, while both men moved to attack each other. They traded punches and kicks, Steve managing to kick his counterpart backwards. Lex took advantage of his lack of balance to kick a lounge seat at him, but he managed to recover himself just in time and jumped over it.

"You were certainly a lot more spry, Steve," Lex commented, as the 2012 Captain America moved to attack her too, causing her to back up slightly in preparation to defend herself. She used the case to block a punch, while Steve hurried to try and draw his attention away from her again.

"Just go!" he shouted, grabbing his counterpart and throwing him backwards, causing him to skid along the floor. Unfortunately, he threw him closer towards one of their shields.

His counterpart scrambled to his feet and picked up the shield, as Lex turned and made a break for it. Steve hurried to try and attack Captain America, but he managed to throw his shield. It bounced off a wall, before collecting Lex by the shoulder, knocking her forward and into a railing. The jolt of the shield hitting her caused her to drop the scepter and it skidded across the floor, landing near the edge of a catwalk that crossed the tower.

"Ugh! Come on, Cap! Kick your ass will you."

"I'm trying, Lex" Steve retorted in annoyance as she moved to try and grab the case again. He jumped at his counterpart again, only to be kicked away into a wall with great force, before 2012 Captain America turned and began running at Lex again.

"Oh, no you don't!" Lex exclaimed, turning around to defend herself, forgetting about the case. He lunged at her, and she kicked out at him, connecting with his chest, but he quickly recovered and moved to tackle her. As they struggled, they bumped the case, causing it to fall from the catwalk, and down several floors. "Agh! Shit!" she growled in frustration.

Steve was quick to get back to his feet, as Lex managed to throw Captain America over her head, flipping back onto her own feet. Steve ran forward, trading blows with himself again, until Lex jumped in with a flying knee at his 2013 version and managing to push them far enough apart that Steve could take a breather.

The 2012 Captain America looked between the two of them, a resolute and determined expression on his face. "I can do this all day," he said, raising his fists in front of him.

Lex looked at him, dumbfounded, before looking at Steve with the same expression. "Really, Steve?"

"Yeah, I know," Steve groaned, before he and Lex ran at him again. "I know."

Lex and Steve worked together to try and subdue the 2012 Captain America, but he managed to give Lex the slip as she tried to get underneath him to lift him over the railing and throw him down a few floors to give them a chance to escape.

As she tried to recover from her failed maneuver, he grabbed her roughly, turning her around and gripping her by the tactical vest she was wearing. "I don't want to hurt you, he's got you under his control, you can fight his influence," he growled, as she continued to try and fight him off. He snaked an arm around her throat. Steve could see what he was trying to do. He was going to try and make the female super soldier pass out. He had to free her, and fast.

"Wow, Steve, even back then you were obnoxiously optimistic," she sneered breathlessly while she tried to loosen his grip around her, as Steve ran forwards to try and help her.

"Shut up," he retorted as she dropped all of her weight, causing 2012 Captain America to over balance and loosen his grip. She slipped out of his grasp and into a heap on the floor, right as Steve reached him, tackling him to the ground. They broke apart, before Steve stood up slowly. His age was starting to catch up with, as his younger version jumped back to his feet.

2012 Captain America looked to the ground, seeing a crumpled and well-worn photo lying on the floor. Steve was quick to move to try and grab it before his counterpart could, knowing it was his own. His counterpart also dove for it, both wrestling on the floor. Steve soon found himself in a headlock as 2012 Captain America tried to wrestle the image out of Steve's hand.

"Where did you get this?" 2012 Captain America demanded. Steve heard shuffling behind them, and Lex's strained voice.

"Winter Soldier…" she coughed.

Realising what she was saying, Steve struggled to loosen 2012 Captain America's headlock on him enough to speak. "Bucky... is... alive!"

Captain America's grip slacked off immediately, and he sat up, staring at Steve in shock. "What?" he demanded. There was a resounding thud, and Steve felt Captain America fall away to the side, unconscious.

Steve sucked in some deep breaths before rolling onto his back, to see Lex standing over him, her rifle in hand with the butt raised. She had hit 2012 Captain America in the back of the head and knocked him out. "You okay?" she asked, collapsing to her knees beside him and sucking in deep breaths of her own.

"Yeah, you?" he asked, sitting up carefully. His body ached, like he had just gone ten rounds with the Hulk.

"Have I ever told you, that I kind of hate you?" she replied, nodding towards the unconscious Captain America. "Because that pretty much solidified that opinion."

"I kind of hate myself a little right now, too, Lex," he replied, patting her on the knee. He clambered to his feet, pulling her up too, once he was steady. They both looked down at Captain America.

"That is America's ass," Steve murmured, earning a scoff and a hearty laugh from Lex.

* * *

 **Look, I'm not gonna lie, I do kind of like the bonding between Lex and Steve right now.**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	34. Whatever It Takes

**Why hello! Two updates in one week. Unheard of!**

 **Well, it wasn't that uncommon a couple of years ago lol.**

 **Anyway, only a couple of people to thank. kotono3, welcome to the fun. And p0mel0 and AliceCullen3 thanks for the review.**

 **So...this is about to get a little bit interesting, and I've been on a roll writing too!**

 **Enjoy**

 ***EDIT* Sorry guys, not actually a new chapter. New chapter is back at 31 because it turns out, I missed a whole chapter when I uploaded. So jump back to 31 to see what I missed.**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 34**

 **Whatever It Takes**

Lex and Steve ran down the fire exit, leaping several steps at a time, Steve carrying the case containing the scepter as he ran.

"You think they stuffed it?" Lex asked as she looked over the side of the railing to see how many stairs they had left to go. She clenched her jaw when she saw they still had several floors to go.

"I don't know," Steve replied as he leapt down another five stairs with ease. Lex rolled her eyes, before deciding to leap over the railing. She dropped the five or six floors down to the bottom of the stair well, landing and rolling to prevent any injuries.

"Lex!" Steve hissed. "What if someone sees you?" He hurried down the last few stairs and gave her a warning glare.

"I knock them out and move on?" she suggested with a shrug and a smirk for the taller blonde as he drew level with her.

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head before opening the door to the back alley behind Stark Tower.

There they found Scott and Tony, looking exhausted and beat up.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lex asked, looking between the pair.

Tony ignored her and looked straight to Steve. "Sorry, buddy, we've got a problem."

Scott scoffed as he opened his helmet face and faced the pair. "Huh, yeah we do."

The duo explained the series of events that had caused them to leave empty-handed. Steve looked between the pair in silence, clearly thinking about how they could fix the problem.

"You lost the Tesseract, Loki got it and escaped? How the hell did that happen?" Lex exclaimed in exasperation as she rubbed her hands over her face.

"Well, what are we gonna do now? - You know what, give me a break, Super Widow. I just got hit in the head with a Hulk."

"You said that we had one shot. This, this was our shot it. It's shot. Six stones or nothing. Six stones or nothing," Scott began moaning, hunched over and breathing heavily.

"You're repeating yourself, you know that? You're repeating yourself," Tony scolded, looking at Scott in annoyance.

"You're repeating yourself. You're repeating yourself. - No! - Come on, you never wanted a time heist, you went on board with the time heist..." Scott retorted, raising his voice.

"Calm down!" Lex raised her voice, planting herself firmly between the two. "Before I calm you down permanently!" The two men looked at Lex in surprise, and she herself felt mild surprise. It was unlike her to put herself in the middle of something so juvenile. But they had more important things to consider.

Tony finally sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I dropped the ball."

"You ruined the time heist," Scott muttered.

"Is that what I did?"

"Yeah!"

"Seriously?" Lex exclaimed, rounding on Scott with a glare that made him cringe and step back.

Steve finally stepped forward and spoke up, much to Lex's relief, handing her the case with the scepter. "Are there any other options with the Tesseract?"

"No, no, no. There's no other 's no do-overs. We're not going anywhere have one particle left. Each. That's it, alright? We use that... Bye, bye. You're not going home," Scott began to rant, pacing in the alley and kicking an empty bottle further down the alley.

"Yeah, well if we don't try **,** then no one else is going home, either."

Lex frowned, thinking about what she knew about the two organisations who had a hand in handling both the scepter and Tesseract. She didn't know much about SHIELD, lest for the information dump Natasha had done in 2014, but HYDRA had been on her tail for at least a century. Yet, there was little useful information she could supply right now.

Finally, Tony snapped his fingers. "I got it, there's another way. To retake the Tesseract and acquire new particles. We'll stroll down memory lane. Military installation, Garden State."

Lex raised her eyebrows at Tony, before glancing at Steve. "New Jersey?" He pressed his lips together and looked back at her, seeming to request her input. She shrugged. Any idea was a good idea at this point.

"When were they both there?" Steve asked curiously, looking back to Tony.

Tony's facial expression went blank for a moment, before he answered. "They were there at a...I've a vaguely exact idea."

Lex narrowed her eyes at Tony. "That literally makes no sense…"

"How vague?" Steve asked, ignoring Lex's comment.

"What are you talking about? Where are we going?" Scott demanded, moving to stand beside Steve as the two original Avengers looked at each other seriously.

"I know for a fact they were there..."

Lex looked between the two men with a bored expression on her face. This shit was getting old, fast.

"Who's they? What are we doing?" Scott demanded, apparently getting as frustrated as Lex was.

"And I know how I know," Tony said, smirking as he nodded to Steve, who looked determinedly back at his old friend.

"Guys, what's up? What is it?" Scott asked, looking expectantly at the pair.

"Well, it looks like we're improvising," Tony answered, beginning to walk away.

Lex folded her arms and looked seriously at Steve. "Are you at least going to let me in on the secret?"

"Right. What are we improvising?" Scott also asked, looking completely lost at what had just happened.

Tony turned and walked back towards them, taking the case from Lex and handed it to Scott. "Get this back to the compound. She comes with us, we might finally be able to put those good looks Cap was jabbering about, to use."

"Uh, come again?" Lex demanded, looking at Tony challengingly. He ignored her, walking to where their time jump suits were hidden. She looked to Steve, who motioned for her to leave Tony alone. She huffed slightly in response but said nothing more.

"Suit up," he ordered her as Tony handed her suit over.

"What's in New Jersey?" Scott asked as he stepped back from where they were now slipping into their suits.

"0-4, 0-4... - Uhh, 0-7."

"Really instilling confidence in me over here, Tony," Lex said as she finished zipping up her suit.

"0-7. Excuse me..." Steve demanded looking at Tony in disbelief.

"1-9-7-0," Tony corrected, motioning for the pair of Super Soldiers to correct their watches.

"Are you sure?" Scott asked, his voice containing all the concern that Lex felt. "Cap. Captain. Steve, sorry, America. Rogers. Look, if you do this, and this doesn't work, you're not coming back."

She didn't love this time travel crap as it was, but now they were going further back in time, where her existence might be more well known within HYDRA. It was a dangerous game for her alone. But they were risking everything for this now. If this didn't work, they were going to be stuck in the 1970s and could very well change the timeline they were about to enter. Not to mention it was not the most enjoyable time in history for women.

"Thanks for the pep talk, pissant," Tony said to Scott in annoyance. He looked straight at Steve with a determined expression. "You trust me?"

"I do."

"Do I get a say in this at all?" she asked finally, looking pointedly between the pair.

"Have at it," Tony said, looking at her expectantly.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down before addressing her concerns. "If we mess this up, we are stuck there. Fine for you two, well, sort of, but for me, its life or death. You both already know that HYDRA was active within SHIELD for years, from as far back as the late 40s. You could be basically handing me over to them if this goes wrong," she explained, looking between the two. "And I don't think we want a repeat of the Winter Soldier or worse, two going around causing trouble. You barely handled one." She looked straight at Steve as she spoke.

He stared straight back at her, and she could see the thought of what could happen as the different expressions passed over his face. Her life had certainly not gone the way she might have planned for it in the last ten years, but considering how she had ostracized herself from society for a time, she was happy with where she had arrived at. She had friends, she had purpose. There was still much she had yet to achieve in life now that she was actually experiencing it without fear of HYDRA, but none of this would have been possible if HYDRA had gotten their hands on her all those years ago, and she dreaded to think what they might achieve with both herself and Bucky at their disposal.

"That's a fair concern. We just make sure we don't mess it up this time," Tony said simply. He looked at Steve. "Your call."

Steve took a breath and nodded once. "Here we go."

* * *

Steve, Lex and Tony stood on the curb of the road as a car drove past noisily.

"Hey man! Make love, not war!" the man driving shouted out the window, a young woman draped across him. Steve raised his eyebrows as he watched the car disappear over a hill in the distance and disappear, although the sound of the car was still heard for a good few minutes.

He glanced at Lex, as she screwed up her nose in annoyance. "I forgot how bad premium fuel used to smell." She gagged slightly, before looking to Tony and Steve. He had to agree, obviously living in the year 2023 had meant they were all taking for granted how good technology was compared to their current present. Tony had managed to procure Lex and himself some military uniforms, while the billionaire was decked out in a suit with a briefcase.

"Clearly, you weren't actually born here, right?" Tony asked, looking to Steve as they all began walking towards the gates of the military base that sprawled for miles before them. The large gates loomed high above them.

"The idea of me was."

"You were still under ice, right?" Lex asked quietly, as she walked on Steve's other side.

"Right."

"Right. Well, imagine you're SHIELD, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization. Where do you hide it?"

"In plain sight."

"So, we sneak in, you get the Tesseract and we get the particles? How exactly?" Lex asked, eyeing off the soldiers who stood on guard duty as they slowly made their way towards the gate.

"No sneaking, here." Tony handed them each and ID card. "Little something I threw together while you were changing."

"How in the…" Steve murmured as he looked his ID over. He glanced at a soldier who marched by, their IDs were nearly identical lest for the face and name printed on it.

"You're welcome," Tony replied, smirking.

"Captain Stevens?" Lex mocked, glancing at Steve's ID. "Original, Tony. Well, let's get this over with. I take it I'm the assistant going by the short skirt and shitty rank?" Lex sneered, pinning her ID to her shirt pocket and straightening her hat. Steve looked at her rank slide and noted she was bestowed the rank of Corporal. As he appraised her uniform, he had to admit, the uniform suited her. Or, she suited it. If only her attitude suited it.

Tony ignored her passive aggressive undertone. "Now, you've got the ID, and don't be afraid to use those pins, I'm sure they'll knock a few fellas over," Tony joked, grinning.

"I'll knock you over in a minute," she muttered under her breath, earning her a warning look from Steve. He needed her to behave more than ever now.

The guards on the gate barely glanced at Steve and Lex's ID passes, but checked Tony's thoroughly, which was cause for concern to Steve. Clearly, security was lacking and now he could understand why HYDRA had their way with SHIELD so easily.

As they walked into the base, Steve couldn't help but notice how many men were stopping to stare at Lex, she was garnering a lot of attention. It made him increasingly nervous, and also slightly annoyed.

"Lex, are you okay?" Steve murmured in concern, pulling his cap down slightly as they headed for a building to the far left of the main military compound where Tony assured them that they would find the science wing.

"Fine, why?" she asked, looking at him with a nonplussed expression on her face.

"People are staring," Steve hissed, hoping Tony would catch their conversation.

"Lex, you need to drop back and walk behind Steve. This is the 1970s, women walking as equals with their superiors wasn't quite a thing yet…" Tony hissed, moving to stand closer to the pair.

"Ugh, I've already lived through this shit, do I really need to do this again?" she groaned, but slowed her pace and dropped behind Tony and Steve, albeit disgruntled.

Tony led them into the building and then onto an elevator, selecting two different floors as another woman entered the lift. Tony looked pointedly at Steve and Lex, who stood slightly behind him.

Steve could see the woman eyeing them off, looking each of them over skeptically. He didn't like it.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop and Tony moved to leave. "Good luck on your mission, Captain, Corporal."

"Good luck on your project, doctor," Steve replied as casually as possible, quick to look back to the numbers as the lights moved along to signify the floors they were passing by, doing his best to seem relaxed.

"You're new here?" the woman asked once the doors to the elevator had shut, smiling at Steve, although the smile never actually reached her eyes.

Steve nervously answered, careful to deepen his voice. "Not exactly." He glanced sideways to look at Lex, who looked completely relaxed and smiled back at the woman. The woman frowned slightly, looking them up and down again.

Steve was relieved when the elevator finally dinged again, signifying it was there floor. He nodded to the woman and moved to get off the elevator.

"Good day, ma'am," Lex said to the woman, her voice all smooth confidence, before she followed behind Steve.

"Uh, good luck."

Steve hurried down the corridor, Lex keeping pace with him easily, walking a step or two behind him as he made his way towards the labs Tony had directed him to find the Pym Particles.

"That was so smooth, Steve."

"Ssshh, someone might hear you," Steve retorted, grabbing her and pushing Lex into a room so he could regather his thoughts. He shut and locked the door behind them before he took a deep breath and looked around for a moment, moving to look out the window into the hallway outside. "How are we going to do this?"

She sat on the arm of a large couch positioned by the door of the office, crossing her arms with bored expression on her face. "Easy, get him out of the office, then we sneak in, take what we need, get out, get home and get this shit over with."

He looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. "You realise that is a hell of a lot easier said than done, right?"

"It really isn't," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "You really aren't any good at this espionage shit, are you?" She stood up again, muttering under her breath. "Tony should have put me in charge, not you." She moved towards the desk in the dark office they were in and began rummaging through the draws and files. "Here, extension 2458, Doctor Hank Pym."

Steve strode over to the desk to look at the paperwork she was pointing at. Sure enough, there was all Hank's details and even where his lab was located. "Alright, we should call him."

"Oh, you think?" she asked sarcastically. He narrowed his eyes at her but before he could even think of berating her, there was the sound of someone jangling keys outside the door.

"Come on," Lex moaned under her breath as they froze.

"Damn it," he said, going to grab her and looking around the room. There was no-where to hide.

* * *

Just as the door opened, Lex grabbed Steve by his shirt, spinning him around so he was now leaning back against the desk. She locked eyes with him. "Trust me." She pushed back against him, quickly crushing her lips to his and pressing her body against his own, stepping in between his legs so her body was completely flush against his.

He was reluctant at first, but he soon began to respond in kind, first with his lips as they began to follow her own movements against his, and then his arms, moving to rest his hands on her hips, just as the light was flicked on.

"Oh, dear god," came a voice. They split apart, Lex doing her best to look alarmed, while Steve really didn't need to try. His cheeks were pink as she jumped away and straightened her uniform, noting the rank slides on the intruding officer's shoulders.

"Sir," she murmured, as Steve stood up as well. He was a higher rank than the Lieutenant that had just walked in on them.

"Captain, sorry for…uh…"

Steve cleared his throat, straightening his own uniform up too. "It's quite alright, sorry for commandeering your office, Lieutenant."

"It's quite alright, Captain. I just needed to file some requisition forms. I'll be done quickly if you still needed it."

Lex was very careful to keep her face looking bashful, although she really wanted to burst out laughing at both officers' faces. Steve's look of utter shock that the other officer was so casual about what he had just seen, and the other officer's surprise at finding a superior doing such a thing in his office, no doubt. She was sure he had probably had his way in that office a few times, if the couch by the door was any indication. Ah the good old days, where officers having their way with non-commissioned female soldiers was seen to be a normal day's happening.

"No, no, that's quite alright. We will leave you to it, got some work to do."

"Alright, sir, sorry about that."

Steve began to stride from the office. "It's fine."

"Corporal." The Lieutenant eyed Lex as she began to move past him, a lecherous smile forming on his lips, earning a sneer in return from her as she moved past him and hurried after Steve. The 70s were really, quite revolting and she was glad she was hiding in the rocky ranges of Asia for most of it.

Steve was waiting outside the office and quickly grabbed her by the arm, leading her towards a phone at the other end of the corridor. "Are you insane?"

"I thought we established this already?" she replied with a smirk, before pulling her arm from his grasp. "What's wrong, Steve? Didn't enjoy little, old me?" she teased.

"That is not what I'm talking about," he hissed in annoyance. "What about Bucky?"

She furrowed her brow in confusion, feeling perturbed at his tone and the fact that he even brought Bucky into the conversation. What relevance was he to their current situation? "What about Bucky? I'm just doing a job, remember, whatever it takes?"

Steve stopped in front of the phone and looked at her incredulously. "Seriously?"

She shrugged, before nodding to the phone. "Seriously, let's get this done and have it out elsewhere, I really want to discuss your kissing skills and experience when we are less likely to get done for treason."

She swore she could hear Steve growl as he pressed the keys for Pym's extension.

He waited a few brief moments before he spoke again. "Hello. - Dr. Pym?"

" _That would be the number that you called. Yes."_

"This is Captain Stevens from have a package for you."

" _Bring it up."_

"Well, that's the thing, sir. We can't." Lex raised an eyebrow and smirked. He was getting good at lying on the run, although his facial expressions could still give him away if you really knew the guy.

" _I'm confused. I thought that was your job."_

"Well, it's just... Sir, the box is glowing and,to be honest, some of our mail guys aren't feeling that great."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. _"They didn't open it, did they?"_

"Yeah, they did. You better get down here."

The line went quiet before he hung up. The pair heard a commotion down the other side of the corridor and saw Pym, running down the hallway in his lab coat, shoving people out of his way.

Lex smirked as Steve pulled his cap down over his eyes further. "Nice work, Steve, you're really starting to come into your own for treachery."

"Shut up and move."

The pair hurried into Pym's lab, moving along the shelves until they found the vials of Pym Particles, both sighing in relief as they took as many vials as they needed, before slipping back out into the busy corridors.

* * *

 **Ooohhh... I'm an evil evil person...**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	35. Oh

**So, after that major mess up there, I went back through and saw all my spelling and grammar mistake.**

 **Can't win, I swear...**

 **Anywho, thanks to everyone for re-reading and putting up with that. Can't believe I messed that up...actually...I kinda can lol.**

 **Welcome to the party TrimusicaDrag00n90, Musiclover3230, Timea, sade benjaminn, athousandyears23, Lu Mach, gearo1313, Dark Angel 792, luffymonky26, Kaitaiagirl, lem00066, Vgn Golley, StormGlassDragon, angelbg and FantasticLoser.**

 **And thank you to rosafern, p0mel0, AliceCullen3, xRaspberryx, AnimeFreak71777 and Janeth16 for your reviews :)**

 **And so...let the adventure continue. Hold onto your hats kids!**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 35**

 **Oh**

Steve and Lex hurried back through the halls of the building, trying to work their way back out without drawing anymore unwanted attention.

As they turned a corner, Lex spotted something that was cause for concern. "12 o'clock, we've got trouble." She lowered her head slightly, so as to ensure they weren't spotted straight away as Steve looked towards her indication. It was the lady from the elevator, and she was being followed by two military police soldiers.

Steve was quick to divert into a nearby office. They shut the door behind them and watched as the woman and MPs hurried past them, none the wiser. Lex heard muffled voices from behind them, looking to see another window that viewed into another office.

"Huh, she looks familiar," Lex murmured, peering through a window into another office. She looked back to Steve, who turned to look, and his face went almost white, like he had seen a ghost. He slowly walked over to the window to peer through at the woman moving around on the other side.

Lex frowned, looking back at the woman on the other side, and then it dawned on Lex. It was the woman in Steve's photo, the same woman whose pictured lined the walls inside the secret SHIELD archive. Agent Margaret 'Peggy' Carter. In all her 1970s glory. Lex looked back into the room, watching as Peggy seemed to be giving instructions to some men who were in the room with her. She glanced at the desk she stood behind, noticing some framed pictures scattered here and there. One, in particular, caught her eye, and she felt dismay for Steve. It was Peggy, with a man. And she was wearing a wedding dress.

Of course, she would have moved on when she thought Steve had died that day the Valkyrie crashed into the icy seas. That didn't make it hurt any less for Steve though, she was sure of it, as she looked back at Steve to see him staring at Peggy with a look of pain on his face.

Lex sighed, before reaching across and squeezing his shoulder. "Come on, Steve, we've got a job to do."

He nodded slowly, before turning and heading back for the door out of the room. Lex turned to follow, only for Steve to stop fast and turn back to look at her with a serious expression on his face. "Why did you do that?"

She furrowed her brow. "Huh?" she asked in confusion. "Do what?"

"Why did you…kiss me?" he demanded, seemingly hesitant to say it out loud.

Lex tried not laugh too loudly, worried that the agents on the other side of the glass might hear them. "Is now really the time to be discussing this?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable?" she retorted rolling her eyes. From his reaction, someone had already mention that to him. "We needed a distraction, I got us a distraction. Who cares how I did it?"

"What about Bucky?" Steve hissed, stepping closer to Lex with an exasperated look on his face.

Lex squinted as she looked at Steve, not fully comprehending where he was going with this conversation and topic. Again, it annoyed her that he brought Bucky up again without any explanation as to why, like she was just supposed to know why he was relevant to the topic. "What about Bucky?" she demanded in a hiss. "How many times do I have to say it, he doesn't currently exist. Well, technically he does, but he's a blank slate assassin probably in a freezer around here somewhere at HYDRA's bidding who doesn't even know who I am and only knows he's supposed to kill you on sight!"

Steve stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head and removing his hat. He ran his hand through his hair, before placing his hands on his hips and looking back at her. "Seriously, Lex. What happens if Buck comes back, and he finds out what we did in that office?"

She narrowed her eyes at Steve again. "We kissed, to give us an excuse to be in that office and gain the information we needed to achieve a means. 'Whatever it takes' remember? As if he would care, anyway." She murmured her last words, and suddenly she felt a tightening in her chest that she had only felt a couple of times before. It was like someone was squeezing her heart with their bare hands.

She moved her hand to her chest, wincing slightly. When she glanced back to Steve, he was staring at her incredulously. "You can't seriously believe that?" Steve moved closer towards her, cocking his head to one side to better look her in the face. "Do you seriously have no idea about the way he felt about you?"

She thought about how she had felt around Bucky, about how he moved around her and she him, how comfortably they seemed to fit in with each other. He never balked at her more malevolent tendencies, and she was always fine with supporting him when he was feeling down about himself, seeing him for what he was, not what HYDRA had wanted him to be. Steve had raised this topic with her once before, and she had shoved it away before it could fester and annoy her. Now, all those thoughts came back at once. And it was annoying her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, before sneering and stepping back slightly. "It doesn't matter now anyway, he's gone, and that is that." She turned and walked towards the door to leave.

"It does matter. I know my friend, and I know he cares about you, more than he cares about himself, Steve said, not moving from where he was standing.

She stopped before the door, looking over her shoulder. "Cared. Past tense. If that was the case, at all. Either way, that kiss we shared, means nothing. I saw a way out and I took it." She turned her head back to look at the door as she put her hand on the doorknob, a smirk on her face. "You just happened to be a convenient ride out." She opened the door and strode out, motioning for Steve to join her.

She watched as he sighed and shook his head, clenching his jaw as he did so, before following her out.

* * *

They caught up with Tony outside the building where he was waiting, still carrying his briefcase, and they hurriedly exited the base, headed back towards the back alley where their gear was stowed and waiting for them.

Steve could feel Tony's eyes darting between the two of them, and it was starting to annoy him.

"Did I miss something?" Tony finally asked as they entered the alleyway. "You two seem a bit… tense?"

"Don't worry about," Steve murmured, glancing over at Lex, who refused to meet his gaze. She had been quiet since their conversation in the office. He honestly couldn't believe how stubborn she was. Bucky sure knew how to pick them.

"Uh…okay…Super Widow, you got anything to say about this?"

"Steve's a prude. That is all."

Steve glared at Lex, while Tony's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony exclaimed incredulously when he finally recovered as Lex knelt beside a small hole in the wall of the alley. She reached inside and pulled out a small bag, standing up again and beginning to pull out their time jump suits.

"Just leave it," Steve warned Tony, catching his suit as Lex threw it at him.

"I don't think I can, this sounds juicy," Tony replied, pretending to appear enamored with Lex as she began to undo the buttons on her uniform blouse. Steve was quick to turn away.

"I rest my case," Lex muttered bluntly, making Steve shake his head.

"Yeah we all know that, but this sounds way juicier," Tony said, clearly trying to egg Lex to enlighten him.

"Hurry up and suit up," Steve ordered, beginning to strip out of his own uniform, revealing his Captain America suit underneath as he undid his shirt. "It's time we bring everyone home."

He turned to look back at Lex, to find she was just zipping up her own suit, her face expressionless as she tossed her cap into the rubbish skip nearby. She met his gaze, but said nothing in return.

* * *

The time jump still made her feel unsteady as they landed back on the Quantum Platform back in Avengers Headquarters. She checked the Quantum watch, it confirmed that she was back in 2023.

She looked around and she wasn't alone, as the others began to pick themselves up from the platform, some unsteady, others unperturbed. As she removed her helmet, she glanced around at those around her. She narrowed her eyes, taking in her comrades. Something was wrong.

"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked, looking around as he removed his own helmet.

"You telling me this'll actually work?"

"Clint…" Lex murmured, beginning to walk towards the former SHIELD agent. Everyone else's attention was drawn to him, as she noted his down cast expression and sunken eyes. He had been crying. And he was alone.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked.

Clint didn't answer, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, turning away from the group slightly. The mood in the hangar dropped and silence reigned. Bruce fell to his knees, pounding his fists on the floor and causing the Quantum Platform to shudder slightly, but still no one said anything. Lex moved to Clint's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Her heart ached once again. Natasha was like a sister to her. Kindred spirits, more or less. While she and Bucky could relate on one level, her and Natasha bonded over their experiences in The Red Room. The little Black Widow always seemed to be there to bolster Lex's spirits if they got down in more recent times, after she returned State side. And now, she was gone.

They all stood outside, gathered by the lake as they mourned for Natasha.

They formed a small semi-circle, and although Lex was still annoyed at Steve for pushing these strange emotions onto her again, she had taken her place right beside him. Without Bucky or Natasha, Steve was the only comfort she really had now, she wasn't as close to the other Avengers as she was to him.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked after a few minutes of silent mourning.

"Yeah. Us," Steve answered quietly. Lex shifted a little closer to Steve, feeling the gravity of his words fall heavy on her.

"What?" Thor asked in confusion, looking from Steve to Tony.

"I just asked him a question..." Tony began to explain, obviously thinking that Thor was drunk again.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead," Thor interjected. He looked around at the others. "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

"Thor, I don't think it works like that…" Lex said quietly. "Not existing, and death, are two very different concepts," Lex tried to reason.

"We can't get her back," Clint added, his voice full of sorrow. Lex's heart went out to Clint. He had explained to Lex in detail what had happened. They had both wanted to give up their lives to save the ones that had been taken. The stubborn and cunning little red head had won, like she always did.

"Wha- what?" Thor demanded, seemingly not believing either.

"It can't be undone. It can't," Clint replied curtly.

Thor laughed mockingly, and Lex began to get annoyed with the Asgardian. This was not what they needed now. "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

Clint stood up and moved towards Thor, but Lex was quick to step in the way, putting a hand to Clint's chest and stopping the smaller man easily. "Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"

"Now that's my point..." Thor replied, seemingly oblivious to Clint's anger.

"It can't... be undone," Clint shouted, finally bursting with anger that now consumed him. "Or that's at least what the, great floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him? Okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him." He pulled away from Lex and walked further away from the group, kneeling down by the water with his head in his hands as grief washed over him again. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."

There was silence throughout the group as they all took in Clint's words, grief washing over them all again. Lex moved to kneel beside Clint, placing her hand on his shoulder again. She wasn't much good with words like Steve, but she could at least offer this sort of comfort.

Suddenly, there was a roar from behind them, as Bruce's anger got the better of him and he picked up one of the nearby benches, hurling it far across the lake. Lex narrowed her eyes as she watched it splash into the lake, at least a kilometre away from them. Impressive.

Bruce took a few deep breaths, garnering Lex's attention back to him, as did the others. "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve looked resolutely around the group. "We will."

* * *

Steve walked through the hallway towards the room where the others were gathering. The gauntlet was now complete, and they were about to discuss what to do next. He was looking for Lex, he hadn't seen her since they had mourned for Natasha at the lake. He noticed one of the balcony doors was open and stepped outside, finding Lex there, looking out towards the lake.

He knew she had probably heard him from several hundred metres away, so felt no need to make his presence known before stepping up beside her. He waited a moment to see if she would speak first. She didn't. "It's ready."

She took a deep breath, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, I guess we find out if this was all for nothing now."

"It'll work."

"Obnoxiously optimistic as ever," she retorted, and Steve could practically hear the eye roll. He gave a small smile, before leaning against the railing to look at her. They needed to clear the air before they faced whatever was about to happen next. It was now or never. She turned her head slightly to meet his gaze. "I wish I could be more like you."

"You could. If you really wanted to," he replied, offering her an encouraging smile.

She scoffed slightly. "I feel like there's an undertone of another meaning to that sentence," she replied, raising an expectant eyebrow.

"I don't think you need to change. Buck likes you the way you are, and if its good enough for him, it's good enough for me."

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked suspiciously at him. "I'm not sure whether to feel disgusted or disgusted."

Steve laughed. "I mean, he loves you for who you are. And if he loves you like this, who am I to try and make you change. You're his girl."

Lex stared at Steve for a moment, blinking a few times. "How can you still be using the present tense like that? He doesn't even exist right now, and you still speak like he is."

Steve shook his head, she was as oblivious as ever. Now he knew how Bucky and Sam felt about him sometimes. "I can't believe out of that entire sentence, that's what you're concerned about," Steve said with a sigh standing upright and turning to face towards the lake again.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye and saw her brow furrow again as she began to take in what he had said more thoroughly. He grinned when he saw her expression change to be dumbfounded and her cheeks turn pink. "Oh."

"Yeah…Oh."

She was silent for a minute, her mouth moving a few times as she appeared to try and form some kind of comeback for him. Finally she spoke. "You're pretty sure about that, huh?"

"Take it from me, Bucky looked at you in ways I've never seen him look at any of the other girls he had back in the 40s." He smiled to himself when he thought back to the way he looked at her in Wakanda or even when they were in Leipzig. He sighed and looked back to the female Super Soldier. "Come on, either way, it's time we bring everyone back," he slung his arm around her shoulders and dragged her back inside.

* * *

They stood in a large room with no windows or glass. Thor, Bruce, Steve, Tony, Scott, Rhodey and Rocket all stood around the gauntlet, while Clint, Nebula and Lex stood against the wall, watching the proceedings with varying degrees of interest.

"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?" Rocket said finally, looking around at the Avengers gathered around him.

"I'll do it," Thor quickly volunteered, moving to grab it.

"Excuse me?" Scott was quick to stop him, looking at him incredulously.

"It's okay." He moved to take it again.

"No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey..." everyone around the gauntlet began to hold him up, stopping him from grabbing the gauntlet.

"Wait, wait, wait, Thor, just wait," Steve ordered, stepping between him and the gauntlet, causing Lex to stand up, watching to ensure that Thor didn't move to strike at Steve in his eagerness. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Thor replied, clearly mocking Steve. "What, were you just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at least discuss it," Scott reasoned.

Thor narrowed his eyes as he looked around at his fellow Avengers. "Look, us sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

"Matter of opinion," Lex scoffed, hiding her snide remark behind a fake cough, which earned a quiet laugh from Clint. Thor seemed to catch her comment, glaring at her.

"It's not that..." Tony reasoned, drawing Thor's attention back to the conversation.

"It's... stop it!" Thor shouted, looking around at the others pleadingly. Lex furrowed her brow and stared at Thor as he began to tear up right in front of them. "Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something great."

"Look...It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition," Tony began to try and explain cautiously. Lex could see why. Depression could be a hell of thing, and it was obvious, Thor was not coping with the events of five years ago. From Rocket's accounts, he blamed himself for allowing his ego to get in the way of finishing Thanos off when he had the chance.

"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor demanded, looking around at everyone, before reaching for Tony's arms and holding him in place.

"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey asked, causing both Lex and Clint to stifle giggles.

Thor ignored the mocking response. "Lightning."

"Yeah…" Tony replied slowly, clearly unsure of how to proceed.

"Lightning won't help you, pal," Bruce said, putting his hand on Thor's shoulder and pushing him to the side. He looked at Tony and Steve. "It's gotta be me." Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting for Bruce to further explain his reasoning. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."

"How do we know you will?" Steve asked, looking at Bruce expectantly.

Bruce shrugged. "We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma." He leaned down, taking a closer look at the gauntlet. "It's like...uh...I was made for this."

Lex frowned slightly, considering everything she knew about Bruce, which to be honest, wasn't much. She had no argument for why he shouldn't handle the gauntlet.

As she considered their options, she looked around the room and noted Nebula was now missing. She furrowed her brow and looked to Clint. "Where'd icy blue go?"

Clint also looked around, although his manner was much more nonchalant than her own. "Probably got sick of the posturing."

Lex pressed her lips into a thin line, but her attention was soon brought back to the conversation as a decision seemed to have been made.

"Good to go, yeah?" Tony asked, looking pointedly at Bruce.

"Let's do it."

It took them an hour to make the preparations, Bruce putting on his Quantum Time suit in the hopes it might offer some protection to the massive amount of power he was about to play with.

"You remember... everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years," Tony implored.

Bruce nodded. "Got it."

Everyone suited up and took their positions, in case the situation turned sour. Lex and Clint took up position furthest away from the gauntlet. Lex knew Steve had paired her with him to protect him if need be. Unlike her, he wasn't enhanced in anyway. A decent blast could very easily end it all for him very quickly. And Natasha wouldn't like that.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate Protocol 8," Tony called out to the AI that controlled a lot of the Headquarters.

" _Yes, boss."_

The facility went into lock-down, shutters closing down over all the windows, doors locking and all air systems being rerouted to the rooms they were currently inhabiting.

"Everybody comes home." Bruce looked around the room one more time, before moving towards the gauntlet. He carefully lifted it and slipped his hand inside, the power immediately beginning to surge through his arm. Power tendrils began to fly throughout the room as Bruce fought to maintain control of the gauntlet. He grunted in pain and clenched his teeth.

"Take it off. Take it off!" Thor shouted urgently, seeing Bruce struggling.

"No, wait," Steve shouted, waving down Thor from interrupting. "Bruce, are you okay?"

"Talk to me, Banner," Tony called out to his fellow scientist.

Bruce took some deep breaths. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

Lex glanced over to Clint, who looked as skeptical as she felt, before she looked across the room to Thor, who was huddled in a corner, before offering two thumbs up to Bruce. As she took in the scene around her, she thought she heard a strange crashing come from further in the facility, straining her ears to try and see if she could hear anything else.

It was no good, as Bruce grit his teeth, before screaming, bringing Lex's attention back to their current situation. Lex stared in amazement as she watched the power practically burning its way through his body. "Bruce! Come on!" she shouted finally, urging the scientist to finish the job.

He finally snapped his fingers, a surge of power shooting from the gauntlet and knocking the breath from her lungs for a moment. Bruce finally fainted from the effort of holding the power in his body, the gauntlet sliding off his arm. Lex hurried to Bruce, rolling him onto his side with a great effort and checking him over quickly, while Clint kicked the gauntlet away.

* * *

 **Here we go guys...As a great doctor once said...'we're in the Endgame now'**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	36. Not Another Bloody Haircut

**Hey everyone,**

 **So you remember for those who have been following a while when I skipped a chapter and nobody noticed and then I slid it in there. Yeah, don't worry, I forgot too.**

 **But thanks to Daisy96 for the save, I noticed. Thanks!**

 **So here's the missing chapter, sorry guys. This will make so much more sense now.**

 **And kids, this is what happens when you leave it too long between chapters...you forget lol**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 36**

 **Not Another Bloody Haircut**

Steve hurried to help Lex treat the scientist. "Bruce!"

"Don't move him," Tony warned, also moving to check on him.

Bruce reached out with his good arm and grabbed Steve's forearm in desperation. "Did it work?"

Thor looked downtrodden, shaking his head. "Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay," he said in what sounded like his best soothing voice, although it sounded somewhat shaky.

There was silence as they began to work on Bruce, who closed his eyes, his expression filled with pain and agony. Lex looked to Steve, a subdued expression on her face as their eyes locked.

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of a ringtone. While the others treated Bruce, Clint moved to look at his phone as it rang, an awestruck look on his face.

Scott moved to look out a window outside the room as FRIDAY deactivated the lock down protocol. "Guys, I think it worked!"

Clint answered his phone, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "Honey? Honey?"

Lex turned to look at Clint, stunned as she realized he was talking to his wife. "It worked…" she gaped, watching the sharp-shooter.

Bruce, hearing Lex's whisper of astonishment, opened his eyes, looking up through the hole that was blasted in the ceiling from the gauntlet, his eyes widening, and his hand that now gripped Lex's arm tensing and drawing her attention to him. She looked up too, seeing Thanos' ship and a single missile headed their way.

"WATCH OUT!"

There was an explosion, blasting them all backwards, before more missiles rained down on the compound. Lex was blown away from Bruce and Steve, falling down deeper into the facility and landing into a deep puddle of water heavily enough that she smacked into the concrete foundations of the building.

She coughed and spluttered as she managed to roll over and gain some air back into her lungs. "I'm getting too old for this!"

She sat up, holding her head for a moment to try and urge the ringing in her ears to stop. She looked around, waiting for her eyes to either adjust to the dark or clear of the shell shock from being blasted by what appeared to be air to ground missiles of some sort. Her mouth hurt slightly, no doubt she had collected a few knocks on her way down, and she moved her jaw to make sure it was still intact and operational. She was glad Steve had made her suit up in her Vibranium armour before they had performed the snap, otherwise she might have been a lot worse. She was surrounded by darkness and didn't recognize her surroundings. "Brilliant."

Suddenly, her commslink activated in her ear and she heard muddled voices as various calls for help rang out.

Through the mayhem of chatter she could make out Rhodey's voice. "Mayday, mayday! Does anybody copy? We're in the lower level, it's flooding!"

"What?" came Scott's voice.

"We're drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!"

"Guys, can you hear me?" When there was no reply, she realized her comms must have been damaged in either the explosion or the fall. "Shit," Lex muttered, scrambling to her feet and beginning to work her way through the damaged passage in the hopes she might be able to find the others.

As she began to make her way through the passage she found herself in, she heard movement up ahead. She slowed, crouching slightly and her hand moved towards her hip holster.

"Cap?" she recognized the voice. It was Clint.

"Hawkeye," she called back, hurrying towards his voice. Her enhanced eyes spotted him ahead in a small and dull shaft of light. "Are you okay?"

"I've felt better, honestly," he replied. He lifted his hand up to show he held the gauntlet. "Found this though."

"Well, if what I saw was any indication of what's to come, we better keep this thing safe."

"What did you see?" Clint asked, frowning. Suddenly, both of them heard something moving further down the passage and became silent. Lex moved her hand slowly to the pistol grip of her handgun at her hip.

Clint moved his finger to his lips, looking meaningfully at Lex, before slowly moving his hand to his quiver, taking an arrow and knocking it to his bowstring. He fired it further down the passage, and it lit up as it flew down the dark tunnel.

It was full of Alien Outriders.

"Thanos," Lex hissed.

"Damn."

They both turned and ran, the Outriders giving chase with a chorus of snarls and howls. They ducked and weaved, dodging debris, while also firing back at any Outriders that got too close. They continued sprinting, Lex careful to ensure she stayed behind Clint, although he was slower than her, trying to ensure he made it out safely.

"Has anyone ever told you, you run pretty slow, Clint?"

"Look, it's not the first time I've been told that," he retorted between ducking some low hanging debris. Lex turned and fired her handgun at an Outrider that got a little too close for comfort. She loathed that they were in such a small passage, meaning she couldn't activate her Vibranium stave. She sprinted to catch up with Clint again.

"See what you missed out on while you were on house arrest?" Lex called as Clint tossed the gauntlet to her so he could fire an explosive arrow back at their pursuers.

"Yeah, how could I miss all this," he snorted as he released the arrow and an explosion ensued. "Oh crap, gas line."

"God damn it, Clint!"

They skidded to a stop under a large, open shaft leading back to the surface, Lex pulling her retractable Vibranium powered stave from her back and attaching the gauntlet to the magnet in its place. She activated her stave as Clint fired a grappling arrow up the shaft. Both jumped as high as they could, Lex leaping far above Clint and using the Vibranium blades to penetrate the side of the shaft and catch her. She began to scramble up, until Clint's grappling rope activated and began to pull him up through the hole, Clint catching her by the arm as he flew up at great speed.

They were flung into the air, both coming back down heavily as the flames and explosion were expelled through the hole in the ground they had just been deposited out of, the sound of the alien creatures screaming in pain as they were burned alive following quickly behind.

Lex groaned, having landed awkwardly with the gauntlet and her rifle on her back underneath her. "I vote, we never take that ride again."

"Where's your sense of fun?" Clint jeered at her, before he chuckled.

Lex laughed too as she rolled onto her front, pulling the gauntlet from her back and tossing it back to Clint. "I'm going to go and see if I can help Scott with Rhodey, take this and find somewhere to hide."

"Right."

Lex turned and ran, rounding a corner of what was once the Avengers Facility, but was now largely ruin.

"Oh, hey...I know you," she heard Clint say through their commlink. She skidded to a stop, wondering who he had run into.

"Father. I have the stones," came Nebula's voice.

"What?!"

Lex was quick to turn back around, sprinting back to where she had left Clint and the gauntlet. She rounded the corner, to see Clint dodging Nebula's attacks, while still holding the gauntlet. She charged and tackled the alien humanoid roughly, sending her crashing into a pile of debris behind her.

"Run, Clint!"

"Don't need to tell me twice."

Nebula clambered back to her feet, looking back at Lex with disdain and anger. She removed a gold coloured plate from her head, sneering at Lex.

"Wait…you're not OUR Nebula, are you?" Lex asked, realizing that this Nebula held herself differently to the humanoid she was familiar with. She would never give Icy Blue crap about being so tense again, because this Nebula made her look relaxed.

She never answered, instead pulling a knife from her belt and charging at Lex. Lex used her stave to block the attack, moving quickly to the defensive as she tried to gauge the aliens fighting style. Nebula was quick as well as strong, but Lex was too. They were evenly matched.

Lex struck out at Nebula, catching her arm with one of her Vibranium blades, drawing her stave back and causing Nebula to shriek in pain. The alien looked down at her arm, where blue blood began to seep out. Nebula looked back at Lex, her rage evident on her face and causing Lex to grin malevolently. "Oh honey, you have no idea what you're playing with," she teased the alien.

The female super soldier moved to run at her again, but Nebula pulled out a blaster, shooting at Lex. The Super Soldier was able to dive sideways just in time, but the blast caught her on the side of the neck leaving her with a burning sensation, and she felt some of her plait fall away as she skidded to the ground.

Nebula grinned maliciously. "I will get that gauntlet for my father." She stepped forwards, her blaster aimed at Lex's face. "You can stand between me all you like, but nothing and no one will stop me." The Super Soldier grit her teeth, her hand itching to reach for her own handgun.

There was the sound of running footsteps from behind Lex, and one set, she recognized.

"Stop!" came an unfamiliar female voice.

Nebula looked up at the newcomer, her eyes widening in shock, before a new emotion settled there. Betrayal. "You're betraying us?"

"You don't have to do this," came Nebula's voice from behind Lex. The Nebula she knew. The one that had recognized the insanity of her father and was now working to fix those mistakes.

The Nebula before her narrowed her eyes, looking from the two women behind her, back down to Lex. "I am... this."

"No, you're not," the other voice implored.

Lex narrowed her eyes at the Nebula in front of her, analyzing the situation. Her neck still stung, but other than that, she was uninjured. She just needed to make sure she read the situation right.

"You've seen what we become," 2023 Nebula said calmly. Lex was confused by what the alien was talking about, but she focused on paying attention to the situation and waiting for the right moment to take her chance.

"Nebula, listen to her."

"You can change."

The Nebula in front of Lex became emotional, a desperation entering her voice. Lex narrowed her eyes, tensing her muscles as she prepared to move. "He won't let me."

Lex saw the tick of Nebula's muscles within seconds of her last words as she began to move her aim from Lex to someone behind her, causing Lex to draw her own handgun, aiming it at her.

"No!" the unfamiliar voice shouted behind her. She pulled the trigger, her shot true, hitting Nebula in the chest, at the same time as a blast hit the alien. Nebula fell to the ground, unmoving. Lex scrambled to her feet and looked behind her, seeing the Nebula she was familiar with minus a gold plate on her head, her blaster raised and pointed at the now dead Nebula with a look of grim determination on her face. She was standing next to what appeared to be an alien woman with magenta coloured hair and green skin.

"What the hell happened, blue?"

"It's a long story," Nebula replied quietly, lowering her aim.

They heard a resounding crash from somewhere in the vicinity of the facility causing them to look around.

"What's going on? Why is Thanos here?" Lex asked, looking back at Nebula expectantly. Obviously she knew what was going on.

"Nebula, our Nebula, brought us here, through your machine. And Thanos wants to get the stones and this time he wants to destroy the planet," the other woman answered, looking away from the now dead Nebula to Lex.

Lex sighed, replacing her handgun. "Just once, I would like things to just go our way without any complications," she groaned as she reached back to inspect her hair. Sure enough, the end had been blasted off, leaving her with a much shorter ponytail. She pressed her lips into a thin line, thoroughly annoyed. "Not another bloody haircut."

"Lex!" came a call through her commslink, it was Clint. Nebula must have heard it too, because she looked alarmed at the urgency in Clint's voice. "I could really use some help right now."

Lex exchanged a look with Nebula and the other woman, before they all turned and ran in the direction Clint had taken off.

* * *

They ran through the debris, dodging Outriders as they tried to find Clint. Lex could hear him panting through their commslink, but couldn't get a fix on his location through the debris and rubble. Everything was decimated.

Nebula and her 'sister' were a few steps behind Lex, also watching for any signs of the sharp-shooter.

"We should split up, we might have a better chance of finding Clint," Lex barked back, glancing over her shoulder. "You two stay together, watch each other's back, got it?"

They both nodded in unison, before peeling off and running down through a gap in the debris, shooting back at some of the Outriders who were pursuing them.

Lex leapt over a large mound of rubble, tucking and rolling onto her feet, before turning and firing at the Outriders that had continued to chase her. As she fired, she heard the sound of metal striking metal and what sounded like lightning and thunder coming from somewhere to her direct right.

She turned and ran again, having put the faster of the Outriders down, looking for the source of the sounds. Sure enough, she soon came across Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, taking on the cause of all their current problems. Thanos.

"Okay, Thor. Hit me," Tony called to the Asgardian. Thor leapt into the air, before bringing his hammer and axe together while streaming lightning through the two. Iron Man's suit began to absorb the energy, before shooting it through his hand cannons and the main power source of the armour in his chest. Thanos barely even reacted to the blasts, rushing towards Tony and grabbing him roughly, punching him several time and causing the blasts to stop.

Thor rushed Thanos with his axe and hammer, but Thanos turned, using Iron Man as a shield from the assault.

Lex skid to a stop, before turning and running at Thanos. She replaced her handgun and quickly took her stave from her back, flicking her wrist and causing the stave to extend to its full size, the blue Vibranium blades glowing as she sprinted towards the fight.

Before she could reach Thanos, Outriders charged at her. She stopped, beginning to fight them off furiously.

"Lex! Get to Clint, get the stones out of here!" Steve shouted as he picked himself up from where Thanos had just thrown him, seeing her as she cut down several Outriders and Chitauri.

"I can help!" She fought off the last few Outriders to attack her and moved closer to Steve. He stood up, half his shield was destroyed, the Vibranium completely shorn in half.

Steve moved in front of her with a severe expression on his face, stopping her from advancing towards Thanos by grabbing her shoulder. "We need to save everyone now, don't worry about us, help Clint, keep the stones safe," Steve warned, as he wiped blood that was dripping from his mouth. Lex looked defiantly at Steve, the urge to argue strong. His expression softened. "Please, Lex."

She eyed him in annoyance and bit her lip, glancing past Steve at the Mad Titan who was in the process of knocking Iron Man to the ground before turning on Thor.

"Fine." She looked back to Steve. "I'll be back, and you better still be alive when I get back."

Steve gave a small smile. "Count on it." She turned and ran, well aware of Steve's gaze still on her.

Lex ducked as an Outrider lunged at her, still looking for Clint. She slashed at the alien, slicing through its two front legs, causing it to collapse to the ground before plunging the Vibranium blades through the alien's head.

"Annoying." She looked around, frowning as she tried to figure out what part of the Avenger compound she was currently in. "Where the hell are you Clint?" she muttered to no one in particular.

"Right here!" he shouted as he appeared around a pile of debris, sprinting towards her.

"Oh…" she replied in surprise as he grabbed her arm and continued running. "Wait…"

"No wait, run!" he motioned behind him, where a huge wave of aliens were charging after him.

"Oh, shit!" She grabbed his arm and ran a bit faster, towing him along at her speed. "Hurry up."

"Here, take this and go, you're faster than me. I'll hold them off," he said, pushing the gauntlet towards her.

"Uh uh, no way, you won't stand a chance against these things, especially that many of them."

"No, he won't, but we might be able to help," came Nebula's voice. They both looked ahead, seeing Nebula and her sister appear from around a leftover corner of the building. They both began firing with blasters into the aliens in pursuit behind the pair.

* * *

 **I even got out of bed earlier than I needed to, so I could pump this one out once I found it.**

 **Sorry guys, and thanks Daisy96 for alerting me to that**

 **xo**

 **A very tired Krayzee**


	37. La Cucaracha

***EDIT* Thanks to Daisy96 for spotting my mistake, I've missed a chapter. You may recall several chapters ago I did this too, and I believe that is the source of this mix up too. This is what happens when you leave updating for too long kids!**

 **So you will need to head back to Chapter 36 to fill yourself in with what happened.**

* * *

 **Hi guys!**

 **Long time between chapters, I know, but I kind of got stuck trying to remember what happened in a particular scene and then life got in the way, but now I'm back.**

 **And this tale is nearly over! :'(**

 **Or is it? With the news that Bucky and Falcon will have their own show, I'm toying with the idea of having another fic based on their adventures with Lex in tow. Let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks to all those still hanging on for this wild ride, and thank you to our new partygoers ,justanothermewlingquim, kjl106, writer chickie, TayTayFogs1595, plumpeaches, anothercarly, ItsJustMe-94, The Midnightwolf15, The Ghost's Are Real, innerseeker, Zose, LewtonSpoons, alxnnxhh, Zackliphon, the-dork-across-the-road, MyCookiemonster95, and CupcakeLoopy.**

 **Thanks also to reviewers rosafern, AnimeFreak71777, AliceCullen3, and Janeth16**

 **This chapter is quite short in comparison, but I promise, it will not be as long between updates, and I kind of needed to keep certain scenes together so it all made sense.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 36**

 **La Cucuracha **

Lex, Clint, Nebula and her sister turned and began to try and fight off the tides of Chitauri and Outriders that were now hunting them. Lex took the gauntlet from Clint, attaching it to the magnet at the back of her armour so that they could fight more freely.

She sliced through alien after alien, before she found herself surrounded and separated from her allies. She carefully looked around at the six aliens. As she considered her options, debating whether her rifle might be suited to the situation, there was a blur of green and magenta. Nebula's sister leapt into the circle, a sword appearing in her hand, and she began cutting down the aliens around them. Lex was quick to join her, slicing through half the group that had thought to surround them.

They looked around, once all the aliens had been felled, before Lex met her gaze. "So, you got a name? 'Nebula's sister' seems a little on the long side."

"Gamora, my name is Gamora."

"Lex. Thanks for the help."

"It's the least I could do," Gamora replied quickly. Their attention soon returned to the fight at hand as more aliens charged towards them.

"Lex, there's too many, we're going to need to make a run for it again!" Clint shouted as he and Nebula hurried over to the pair who had just cut down another tide of aliens.

"Oh, come on, there's got to be a way to end this," Lex groaned, shaking her head.

"The only way to end this, is to end Thanos," Nebula said coldly, looking around for the Mad Titan himself.

"Sounds simple enough," Lex replied sarcastically, picking up a large piece of rubble and hurling it up at the remnants of a wall beside them. The stone hit a Chitauri fighter who was trying to sneak towards them, knocking him out and causing him to crash to the ground.

"Let's get to Steve and Tony, maybe they've got an idea," Clint suggested, a slight smirk on his face as he looked over at the alien she had just knocked down. The group made a run for it as more Outriders and Chitauri appeared over the piles of rubble around them.

* * *

Steve, Tony and Thor began to struggle to get back to their feet again. Thanos had the upper hand against them, even though it was three against one, and even though Steve had proven to be worthy of wielding Mjolnir.

Lex suddenly appeared, running towards them with the rest of the remaining Avengers in tow. Steve glanced back when he heard her shouting as she fought off aliens. She turned to slice through an alien that got too close to her with her stave. He grimaced when he saw she had the gauntlet strapped to her back.

"Why is she bring that back here?" Tony hissed, deactivating his helmet.

"Probably has something to do with these things following me!" Lex shouted back from where she was fighting.

"Wow…she heard that?" Tony said, frowning.

"Not the time, Tony," Steve warned, turning his attention back to Thanos, who looked over at Lex with a malevolent grin on his face. Thor and Tony both looked at the Mad Titan with disdain.

"In all my years of conquest...violence...slaughter... It was never personal," he sneered, beginning to walk towards them slowly, with an air of superiority. "But I'll tell you now... what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much." He gave a wave of his hand, seeming to signal to his forces.

Behind Thanos, his ships began to land and open, causing wave upon wave of aliens to appear. Outriders, Chitauri and the Children of Thanos. Steve recognized them from his last encounter in Wakanda. The female he had fought previously was there, an angry look on her face as she led many of the Outriders down the hill towards them.

Lex, Clint, Nebula and the newcomer hurried up the hill, putting enough distance between them and the aliens pursuing them, with a little help from Thor and his lightning, before sliding to a stop beside Steve.

"Steve, we have got to do something," Lex said breathlessly, eyeing off Thanos and his forces. "We can't keep this up for much longer."

Steve clenched his jaw. He knew all too well, that she was right.

* * *

As the two groups stood ready to fight to the end, there was a crackling over their commlinks.

"Cap, you hear me?"

Lex glanced at Clint, who also looked as confused as she felt.

Steve looked around in confusion.

"Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?" They heard the sound of sparks, and Lex saw them beginning to appear in thin air all around them. The aliens all around them noticed too, turning their attention to the strange occurrences.

"Steve!" Lex shouted, drawing his attention to them.

"On your left," Sam said, and Lex swore she could hear the smirk on his face. Suddenly, the sparks to Steve's left expanded and it looked like a hole appeared in thin air, but what caught Lex by even more of a surprise was the smell.

It smelt like Wakanda.

Three figures stepped through the hole, Okoye, Shuri and T'Challa. Lex's mouth fell agape as she stared at T'Challa. He was back. When she had last been in the Golden City, they were mourning the loss of T'Challa and Shuri had been forced to take over his reign with the assistance of her mother.

T'Challa looked at Steve first, then over to Lex, a grin appearing on his face as Sam zoomed in overhead from the portal, eliciting a laugh as he did so.

"Hey crazy lady," Sam called as he flew by her.

"Hey yourself." She grinned as he flew a loop above her, as more portals appeared, with more and more armies joining them. Lex stared as more and more troops from all across the galaxy seemed to appear out the portals. Space ships, Asgardians, sorcerers and Wakandans. Their numbers swelled, and she finally felt like they stood a chance.

The portals began to close finally, having deposited heroes from all over the galaxy to join Steve and his remaining Avengers.

Dr Strange looked around, seeming to be counting those around him. "Is that everyone?" he asked expectantly, glancing at Wong beside him.

Wong looked up at him incredulously as he created his shield. "What, you wanted more?"

There was the sound of earth shifting where the Avengers facility had once stood, and Ant-Man appeared in his giant form, carrying Hulk, War Machine and Rocket.

Lex saw movement to her right, looking to see Bucky moving to stand beside her. He smirked as her eyes went wide. "Lex."

She coughed slightly, before looking straight ahead. "Bucky."

Steve looked at the pair, a relieved and determined smile on his face. His eyes roved further along the lines of his army, before he looked back towards Thanos' forces. "AVENGERS!" He raised his hand in the air, Mjolnir flying into his outstretched hand.

"That's new…" Shuri commented under her breath to Okoye, who raised an eyebrow in his direction at the development.

"Assemble."

Thor roared loudly, moving first as he began to run past Captain America, calling on his lightning as he ran. Thanos lifted his sword and pointed it towards the Avengers forces, causing his aliens forces to also charge down the hill. The two forces charged towards each other, except for Lex and Clint, who turned and made a break for it.

"Cap, what do you want us to do with this damn thing?" Clint asked as he fired arrows at some aliens encroaching on Lex as she ran ahead of him, the gauntlet still attached to her back.

"Guys, we need to get this gauntlet out of here," Lex said breathlessly through their comms as she hurdled debris.

"Get those stones as far away as possible!" Steve exclaimed, narrowly avoiding a strike from Thanos.

"No! We need to get them back where they came from," Bruce replied, picking up a large piece of rubble and hurling it with his good arm. It bowled through the ranks of aliens charging towards them, killing a handful in the process and severely injuring several others.

"No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the Quantum Tunnel," Tony called as he crashed through the ranks of aliens, before turning and firing a blast at Thanos' back, which he easily dodged.

"Hold on! That wasn't our only time machine," Scott exclaimed as he shrank back to his normal size, looking around hastily.

"You think that thing survived?" Lex asked as she turned and sliced at an alien who got a little too close for comfort. He pulled his keys out from his pocket and pressed a button. 'La Cucaracha' could be heard playing from across the compound. "You have got to be kidding me," she exclaimed, turning to look back the way they had come.

Steve looked up to the sky, seeing the Wasp fly past, as well as many others flying through the sky as they fought back aliens. "Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?"

There was no reply at first, until finally Valkyrie, a colleague of Thor's, called back as she flew overhead on a Pegasus. "Yes! But you're not gonna like where it's parked." She motioned towards it so Lex and Clint could see. It was positioned behind the alien's battle lines.

"Well, we wouldn't want this to be easy now, would we?" Lex groaned, before she and Clint were quick to change directions.

"I'll meet you there, guys!" Scott called, as Lex and Clint slowly began to work their way across the compound, ducking and weaving aliens and stray fire from their allies.

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Tony asked, as he fired at some aliens that were gaining on Clint and Lex.

"Maybe ten minutes."

"I'll give you five!" Lex exclaimed as she pulled out a handgun and fired a bullet into the head of an alien that charged at her, as she continued on her way to the south side of the compound, ducking as another alien tried to jump at her from overhead. Clint fired an arrow that hit the alien square between the eyes, continuing to shadow Lex as she ran.

"Get it started. We'll get the stones to you," Steve ordered, watching as Lex jumped in the air to avoid an alien but was crash tackled by another one. "Lex!" He watched as Lex grabbed the Outrider by its jaws, holding them off her while Clint did his best to fire at more that looked to capitalize on her being preoccupied. Steve threw Mjolnir, and it struck the alien in the head, throwing it backwards and into a line of oncoming aliens.

"Thanks Cap," Lex said breathlessly, as she quickly stood up, wiping her hands on her armour. "Gross, alien drool." She reached back and pulled the gauntlet from her back, turning to Clint. "Clint, you need to run this, I'll give you cover."

Wasp zoomed by them, on her way towards the van, where Scott was also beginning to make his way. "We're on it, Cap," she called as she fired at some aliens that got a little too close to Scott's back. She swooped down, grabbing Scott and they both shrank out of view.

* * *

Lex ran ahead of Clint, fighting off as much of the onslaught of aliens as she could, the problem was, they had finally caught wind of the fact that they were trying to get the stones out of there. All of Thanos' forces seemed to have diverted all of their attention towards them now.

Lex skidded along the ground, her stave slashing through several aliens at once before she slammed into a wall of rubble.

"Ow…" she groaned, stumbling back to her feet and running back towards Clint. She slashed at another Chitauri, before a group of them lunged at Clint. She was quick to shove him away, taking the brunt of their attack, forcing her onto the ground. "GET OFF OF ME!"

Suddenly, she felt as if there was a strong wave of energy blast above her, and all but one Chitauri was flung from above her. She capitalized, kicking out at the alien and it reeled backwards with a snarl. Before she could bring up her stave to cut through it with the Vibranium blade, there was a gun shot and the alien was thrown backwards, lying still on the ground. She was quick to sit up quickly, looking around in bewilderment, as Sam swooped low overhead, imbedding his wings into a large Outrider that had appeared over a mound of rubble, looking to capitalize on Lex's moment of distraction.

T'Challa strode forwards, with Bucky beside him, T'Challa deactivating his helmet. Lex's eyes widened when she noticed the rifle in Bucky's hand, realizing he had been the one to shoot at the alien. "Thanks for joining us on this fine day."

"You've got a weird interpretation of fine," Bucky replied, a hint of amusement in his eyes as he smiled at her.

She swallowed heavily at the smile he gave her, before looking at Clint as he hurried towards them. He looked exhausted, and she didn't blame him. For all her enhanced abilities, she was starting to feel the efforts of the last five years.

T'Challa looked to Clint and motioned to the gauntlet. "Clint! Give it to me."

"Don't need to ask me twice," he answered breathlessly. He tossed it to T'Challa, who nodded to the two super soldiers, before reactivating his helmet and hurrying back towards the van.

Lex watched him go, before reactivating the Vibranium blades on her stave as she looked around at the aliens who were now running towards them, obviously trying to pursue T'Challa. She moved into a ready stance. "So, where have you been?" she asked, glancing sideways at Bucky.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied, before raising his rifle into his shoulder. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and smiled again. "You look good."

She raised her eyebrows and smirked back at him. "Yes, because that seemed really important to me at this moment."

He grinned back at her, as she shook her head before running towards the nearest alien.

* * *

 **I promise, the next chapter will be up in a day or two.**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	38. Breaking Down

**I promised an update within a day or two, so here we are!**

 **This story is so close to finished, and that's a little exciting and a little bit sad too.**

 **Thanks to new followers Domea, 3, and LordPeverell**

 **And don't worry, I double checked before posting...this is the right chapter _**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 38**

 **Breaking Down**

Bucky and Lex ran through the battlegrounds, fighting off aliens as they tried to overrun them and wipe them out. Back to back again, Bucky felt like nothing had changed, as they fell into form with each other again, watching out for one another.

"I miss my apartment," Lex groaned as she slashed at another alien.

"What, your apartment in Bucharest?" Bucky asked incredulously as he continued to shoot at aliens that were trying to pursue Spider-Man as he swung by them.

"Exactly."

"Have you even been paying rent?" he asked, using the butt of his rifle to knock away an alien that got too close.

She was quiet for a moment as she dodged an Outrider that tried to lunge at her, slashing its head clean off its shoulders. "The landlord got snapped, so no."

"I think your rent is overdue then," Bucky replied in amusement as he glanced at her. She snarled slightly, before pulling her own rifle from her back and firing into the mass of aliens that were now attacking Spider-Man who had somehow managed to come in possession of the gauntlet. He stepped up beside her and also began targeting the aliens.

They continued firing, but soon there were too many. "Parker! Get out of there!" Lex shouted, moving to try and help him, stopping as another Outrider jumped in front of her. She kicked out at it, knocking it backwards before shooting it at close range.

"I got this. I got this!" Peter shouted, his iron spider legs working hard to try and fight off swarms of aliens. Lex moved to try and help him but was tackled by another alien. Bucky turned his attention to her, trying to get a clear shot of the alien as she also tried to fight it off. He heard Spider-Man shout behind him. "Okay, I don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!"

"Shit."

"Don't worry…about me!" Lex shouted back at Bucky as she wrestled with the alien that was on top of her, punching at it. "Help the kid!"

Deciding he had faith in Lex, he turned and began shooting at the aliens attacking Spider-Man, but there were still too many.

"Hey, Queens. Heads up," Bucky heard Steve shout. He continued firing, seeing Thor's hammer fly overhead. The kid fired one of his webs, catching onto the hammer and using it to pull himself out of harm's way as it flew past.

Bucky turned his attention back to Lex, just as she broke the alien's jaw, ripping it from its face and throwing the whole alien aside. Her eyes were blackened, blood dripped from her neck and a slash across her face. Several other aliens that had been close by stopped and seemed to reconsider their actions for a moment. It was all the time Bucky needed, he opened fire on the aliens, dropping them all where they stood while Lex launched herself at the one's that he didn't fire upon.

Finally, they got a moment to breathe, and Bucky carefully moved towards Lex, releasing his gun and holding his arms up to show he wasn't armed. "Are you okay?" he asked, paying close attention to the colour of her eyes. The colour wasn't easing, and she was breathing heavily.

Her gaze shifted to him, but she didn't say anything as she lifted her gaze skyward, before she lunged at him, much to his alarm. She dove at him, knocking him to the side. They rolled down further into the hole, Lex holding onto Bucky all the while, until they both came to rest up against a piece of concrete debris left-over from the Avenger complex.

"What the-" he exclaimed, looking to defend himself in case her trigger from the extra component in her blood had adverse effects, but there was soon an explosion close by. Bucky was quick to move and cover her, placing his body over hers, as another blast hit the ground, sending dirt and debris flying into the hole with them.

Thanos' ship was firing on them. As Bucky peered out of the hole while still trying to protect Lex, he could see multiple blasts fired from the ship, blasting giant holes in the ground. He saw Spider-Man knocked to the ground, still carrying the gauntlet.

"We've got to get to Peter," Lex murmured as she tried to get up, but Bucky could see was starting to struggle with multiple injuries.

"I think we need to get you to safety," Bucky said, moving to try and keep her safe from the explosions happening around them.

"I'm fine, let me up," she argued. He noted that her eyes had returned to normal, albeit her dark brown eyes showing how tired she was.

"Wait," he said trying to stop her, but she pushed past him, climbing out of the hole and looking up. Bucky followed her, noticing that the explosions had stopped. They both looked up at Thanos' ship and saw that it's weapons had changed their trajectory of fire.

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked in confusion, swooping low overhead of the pair.

Bucky saw Lex grin in the corner of his eye. "It's about bloody time," she murmured.

"Oh, yeah!" the racoon shouted, appearing on Lex's other side. Bucky stared up at the sky, until he saw an energy beam shooting towards Thano's ship. It was bright, appearing to be made up of orange, red and blue energy bolts.

"She's finally back," Lex sighed, looking down at Rocket.

"Wonder if she got a new haircut," he retorted, causing Lex to smirk and shake her head.

"Her?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked between the racoon and Lex.

Lex winked at him, lifting her rifle up in a relaxed manner. "Watch." She nodded back towards the energy bolt as it struck the ship, piercing its armour and shooting straight through it, appearing out the underside of it.

Bucky stared in disbelief as he realized why Lex called it a 'her'. The energy bolt was actually a person, and she was now turning around and flying straight back towards the ship again. As she struck it again, the weapons on the ship stopped firing, the energy lines on them shutting off.

They heard Steve through their comms. "Danvers, we need an assist here."

"Time to get back to work, Bucky," Lex said, smiling at Bucky as she smacked him on the arm, before turning and running away.

"Hey!" he called after her. She stopped and looked back at him expectantly.

"Be careful."

She raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes at him slightly, before a small smile slipped across her lips. "You too."

* * *

Peter lay on the ground in a ditch, cowering with his arms wrapped around the gauntlet as the ground all around him had exploded from the bombardment from Thanos' ship. When it finally stopped, he looked up, as a woman floated down to the ground.

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker," he greeted her quietly, as someone else leapt down next to her. "Alexia?"

"It's Lex. Good to see you again, kid. My, how you've grown," she greeted him, dropping down into the hole and moving to help him up. She looked different from what he remembered, older and more tired, and she didn't have a malevolent smile on her face like the last time he saw her. She looked genuinely happy to see him as she reached down with her hand.

"Uh, thanks," he replied, taking the hand she offered with a dubious look on his face and letting her help him to his feet. He glanced up at the other woman as the light surrounding her subsided.

"Don't let Captain Marvel scare you too much, she just likes to think she's intimidating," Lex whispered loudly, glancing over at Danvers as she pushed him towards her.

She gave Lex a sardonic look, before looking back at Peter and offering him a friendly smile. **"** Hey, Peter Parker. Got something for me?"

He stepped forward, moving to hand her the gauntlet. "I don't know how you're gonna get through all that," he said, motioning towards Scott Lang's van that was now up and running, the Quantum tunnel activated and visible from where they were positioned across the compound from it.

Lex reloaded her rifle, as Wanda Maximoff landed beside Captain Marvel.

"Don't worry," the Scarlet Witch replied, looking confidently down at him too.

The Dora Milaje General appeared beside Lex, swinging her spear around as she walked. "She's got help."

Peter looked all around as he saw several women moving to support the newcomer, including Pepper Potts, wearing an armour that looked similar to Tony's Iron Man armour. They were an awe-inspiring sight to see for the teenager as he stared at the group, taking a step back. For the first time since they started fighting, he really believed that they were going to win.

All the women turned and began running for the Quantum tunnel, Valkyrie flying over-head as they began taking on the aliens that turned their attention to Captain Marvel. Scarlet Witch fired the first shot, a blast of red energy knocking the first lines of aliens that charged at them out of the way as Valkyrie dove low on her Pegasus, slashing her sword at a Chitauri Leviathan as it dove towards the group, causing it to veer off course, explode and crash to the ground. Lex, Pepper and Shuri opened fire in an effort to clear a path of Outriders for Captain Marvel.

As they fired at the oncoming Chitauri and Outriders, a group tried to flank them, charging at Pepper. Lex heard their growls and snarls as they approached, turning and shoving Pepper out of the way, firing her weapons at the group, but was soon overwhelmed as they outnumbered her. She tried to jump back and out of the way, but Pepper soon reappeared in front of her, firing all of her arsenal on the aliens. Lex recovered quickly, assisting her until the flanking aliens were no more.

"You okay?" Pepper asked, deactivating her helmet and looking back at Lex.

"Sure, yeah, thanks," she replied, panting slightly, and turning back to look at the aliens charging towards Captain Marvel.

"No, thank you," Pepper replied, before following Lex's gaze towards the aliens. "Come on!" she reactivated her helmet, jumping up and activating her thrusters, before reaching for Lex and grabbing her by the arm.

"Wha!" Lex exclaimed, not prepared to be taking off as Pepper flew towards Captain Marvel.

Scarlet Witch used her powers to try and keep the Chitauri Leviathans away from Captain Marvel as she began to launch herself at the Quantum Tunnel, flying with great speed towards the van.

Thanos saw them, moving to intercept Captain Marvel, but Pepper who dropped Lex to the ground, Shuri and Wasp flew through the smoke, firing their energy blasts and rifle at him and knocking him from his feet. He was thrown back several feet, staggering back to his feet as Captain Marvel blasted by towards the van.

Just as they thought she might have been clear, Thanos shouted angrily, before throwing his double sword at the van. The sword smashed into the Quantum Tunnel, overloading the energy tunnel and causing it to explode just before Captain Marvel could reach it. She was thrown backwards, dropping the gauntlet as she tumbled along the ground.

* * *

Lex was startled awake as an energy blast surged over where she was lying, she sat up quickly, groaning almost immediately as she felt all her pain at once.

"I am, officially, too old for this shit," she muttered to herself, looking around. Her eyes went wide as she saw Thanos, wearing the gauntlet. She scrambled to her feet, moving to try and stop him.

As she ran towards him, he began to lift his gauntleted hand into the air.

"No, no, no!" she shouted desperately. As she lunged at him, so did Captain Marvel, catching him around the hand as Lex latched onto him around the neck. Lex started punching him as hard as she could, while Captain Marvel worked on ensuring he couldn't snap his fingers. "You are not doing this again!" Lex snarled as she dug her finger-nails into his eyes.

"Arrrghhh!" he screamed angrily, reaching up with his free hand and grabbing her, before tossing her to the side, where she landed roughly on a pile of debris. He snarled at Captain Marvel, before trying to head butt her. However, he was stunned when she didn't move, glaring back up at him. They continued to struggle to outpower each other, until finally Thanos reached for the power stone off the gauntlet, causing a blast of purple energy to knock Captain Marvel away.

"Danvers!" Lex shouted, watching as Carol was knocked several metres away. Lex hurried back to her feet, running towards Thanos again as he replaced the Power Stone on the gauntlet. Tony appeared before her, lunging at Thanos and grabbing him by the gauntlet. Thanos looked down at Tony in disgust, kneeing him in the gut once, before trying to hit him with his free hand.

Lex felt her rage building as she sped towards him, finally launching herself high in the air. She smashed into Thanos, grabbing his other arm and pulling it back in an effort to stop him from hitting Tony.

Tony looked across at her, grim determination on his face as they continued to wrestle with Thanos. Tony nodded at her once, and Lex understood what he was trying to do. She immediately grit her teeth, turning back to look at Thanos with an angry snarl on her face. She lunged forwards at him again, knocking him slightly off balance and beginning to punch him wildly, knocking Tony away in the process with a wild swing. She was so angry, she couldn't see straight, tears filling her eyes.

"You…stupid…bastard…why…don't…you…just…die!" She belted him, again and again.

Finally, Thanos found an opening, reaching up and grabbing her roughly around the neck with his free hand. He squeezed her neck tightly, and she began gasping for air. "Because, my child…" He threw her to the ground with such force, she could actually feel several of her bones break, even in her triggered state. She lay still, her eyes following Thanos as he stood back up, sneering down at her. He raised the gauntlet in the air, looking at the world around him. "I am... inevitable."

Thanos snapped his fingers, a resolute look on his face. There was silence for a moment, and then laughter. Maniacal, uncontrolled, laughter. He looked down, seeing Lex laughing uncontrollably.

"Ow, ow, ow…please don't make me laugh, it hurts," she muttered as she held her abdomen, grimacing while laughing.

Thanos snarled at her, before looking at the gauntlet on his hand incredulously. He turned it around to analyse the stones, only to find they were gone. He looked down at Lex, who still continued to laugh at him, before he kicked her away.

She landed roughly, not far from Tony, coughing as blood began to seep from her mouth. He looked over to her as he struggled to his knees. She tried to push herself up too, breathing heavily. She nodded to him, and he offered her a grim smile, before looking back at Thanos, raising his own hand, his face determined.

The Iron Man suit was reforming, moving the Infinity Stones into position on his hand as Tony raised it up, the power of the stones beginning to flow up his arm. He gasped in pain, his breath becoming ragged as he worked to control the power now flowing through his suit. Lex could see the power was already starting to affect his body as he tried to control it, the tendrils of power eating away at the arm.

Thanos stared at Tony in shock as Tony moved his fingers into position.

"And I...am... Iron Man."

Tony snapped his fingers with a resounding _CLANG_ and a blinding flash of light. Lex dropped her face to the ground in an effort to shield her eyes from the debris. She continued to breath heavily, starting to feel the full effects of her injuries as the extra component in her blood stopped taking effect.

When she looked up again, she could see Thanos' forces beginning to crumble away, little by little. A Leviathan ashed just as it was about to devour Rocket. Thanos' children disappeared in clouds. His ships began to float away on the wind, scattering into the air.

Tony and Lex continued to watch as Thanos' forces slowly disappeared from existence, leaving nothing but the debris from their battle behind. Thanos looked around in horror, watching as his forces disappeared right before his eyes, moving to sit on a rock. He too disappeared on the breeze as his body turned to ash.

Lex sighed finally, looking over to Tony. He was in bad shape, much worse than she was.

She pushed herself up, ignoring the pain she was feeling and moved to Tony's side. "Come on, Stark, let's get you more comfortable." She pulled him up, dragging him out of the hole they were lying in, pushing past her own pain and leaning him up against the remnants of a wall so he was sitting up. She checked over his arm and face, but the wounds were quite clearly deep and well seeded. His injuries were definitely fatal.

She looked at him grimly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Can you ever, I dunno, not be the hero?" she asked quietly, clumsily moving to sit near him, wincing as the movement jostled all of her injuries.

"What can I say, I'm Iron Man," he mumbled, his breathing ragged and labored.

She chuckled as she settled off to the side of him. "Yes, yes you are."

She watched on as War Machine flew overhead, waving him down as he flew by. He turned and landed, deactivating his helmet as he hurried to Tony's side. He checked over Tony's injuries, fear and concern etched on his face, before looking resigned and bowing his head. He glanced over to Lex, who could do nothing but look down sadly. She knew that Rhodey and Tony were long-time friends. Rhodey had been there when Tony became Iron Man.

Lex struggled back to her feet, wanting to allow Tony some privacy with his closest friends and family, making to limp away. She only made it a few feet before her legs began to give way beneath her and pain shot through her back.

Before she could hit the ground, strong arms caught her, wrapping her up tightly in their embrace and holding her up. "Whoa there," the familiar voice murmured as he carefully lowered her into a sitting position by a pile of debris. When he finally moved away, Bucky knelt beside her peering into her face, his expression full of concern. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his Brooklyn accent suddenly standing out to her.

She stared at him for a moment, taking him all in. It was strange to her, but she felt like this was the first time she was fully seeing Bucky. His long hair, stormy, blue eyes and strong jaw all standing out to her. When he furrowed his brow and frowned, she realized she should answer him, offering a warm smile. "Hey."

He raised his eyebrows slightly, before smiling back at her. "Hey."

Hearing sobbing, both turned to look towards Tony, seeing Peter Parker sobbing uncontrollably beside Rhodey who comforted him, as Pepper Potts knelt in front of Tony, talking quietly to him. Lex swallowed heavily, she could see that Tony didn't have much left in him.

They were both silent, watching on as Tony finally lay motionless, all life disappearing from his eyes. Pepper Potts sobs reached their ears and they both bowed their heads.

Lex could feel her eyes heating up, and a large lump was forming in her throat. She knew this feeling now, she had been feeling it quite regularly over the last five years. The tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, and she tried to hold them back, dropping her head forward and putting her hands on the ground, refusing to look at anyone.

That was until she felt a strong hand rest on her back. She looked up in surprise, seeing Bucky's arm rubbing her back as he looked across to where Tony and Pepper were. She could see the sadness and remorse in his eyes too, staring at him for a moment until he looked back to her. The understanding in his eyes finally broke her as his gaze met hers, and she broke down, beginning to sob.

She lifted her hands to face, covering her eyes quickly, not wanting him to see her breaking down. What she didn't account for was him grabbing her and pulling her into his chest. He hugged her tight, his Vibranium arm holding her tightly to him, while his other hand rubbed up and down her back, and this just made her sob even harder.

* * *

 ***Sad Reacts Only***

 **K Thanx**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	39. Family

**So how we all recovering from that last chapter?**

 **So, to answer a question I was asked, yes, we are going to keep going.**

 **As I mentioned previously, with the announcement of the Falcon and The Winter Soldier tv show, and the fact that I love the banter between those two characters and my character as it is, I'm going to give it a shot.**

 **However, that may mean that this fic goes on hiatus once I write up to the end of the aftermath of Endgame. I debated starting it as a completely separate fic, but then I was like, but then people would open up the story and see this weirdo, crazy character with these two well known characters and be like 'wha?' So, it will just continue on from this fic.**

 **Thanks to Irishka16, Sinner2016, Opecinco and raven2327 for joining the adventure.**

 **And to my reviewers xRaspberryx, Janeth16 and AliceCullen3, you're awesome.**

 **Now, prepare yourself for more sadness with a side of sarcasm.**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 39**

 **Family**

Bucky stood by the window, looking out over the city. Once the world realized what had happened, emergency services and special agencies had all converged on their location, seeking answers as to what was going on.

What they were greeted with had left them with more questions than answers. Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, dead, and the Avenger's compound destroyed. The sorcerer and his people had helped return all those who had come from different corners of the Earth back to their homes, for the time being.

He and the others that had stayed were taken to the closest hospital, to get the medical attention many of them needed. It had taken a lot of convincing from Bucky and Steve to get Lex to be seen to, and it was a good thing too. Her body had suffered multiple contusions, some internal bleeding as well as many open wounds that were more visible. Doctors were stunned she was still able to put up a fight, let alone walk.

Bucky had faired pretty well, considering, although he and Steve both took a beating trying to stop Lex from making a run from the doctors. They ended up sedating her to get her seen to, with the assistance of Wanda holding her mind captured until the doctors could get the needle into her.

He lent an arm up against the wall as he stared out the window, sipping on a bottle of water. It had been five years since the snap, and the world certainly showed it. There were a lot of structures that appeared to be overgrown with plants, and abandoned vehicles strewn throughout the streets. It was very fascinating to see a city like New York in the condition it was in.

He heard heavy footsteps approach him from behind, turning his head to see who it was. Steve offered him a warm smile, moving up beside him and patting him on the shoulder. He had cleaned up a little, although his uniform still sported the signs of a tough fight here and there.

"How you doin, Buck?" Steve asked.

Bucky sighed, looking from Steve back out to the city. "I'm alright. It's good to be back." He turned and glanced past Steve towards Lex's room, where she was sleeping off the effects of the sedative. "How has she been?"

Steve hesitated, looking back over his shoulder towards her room, before sighing, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking back at Bucky. "She…had a bit of a hard time, I think."

He pressed his lips together, as he looked back to her room. "What happened?"

Steve moved to sit on a nearby chair, leaning forward to rest his elbows onto his knees. "At first, she was very angry, she left and went into hiding in the mountains of Wakanda, wouldn't even talk to Shuri or Okoye." Bucky took a sharp breath, understanding the seriousness of her reaction. Lex had gotten along very well with Shuri, he had seen it first-hand, the Wakandan princess had idolized her. "I kept reaching out to her, Shuri always monitored her as did the Jabari, but she wouldn't respond to us. Then Scott Lang returned from the Quantum Realm by sheer accident and gave us our chance, so I tried reaching out to her again. For some reason, this time, she responded and came back."

He couldn't help but feel grateful that he had kept trying. He knew Steve had always had his reservations about Lex at the beginning, but knowing that Steve had tried his best to keep an eye on her made him feel relieved. The only reason she had ever been brought into this strange world they were now in, was because of him. All because they ran into each other on the stairs of their apartment building in Bucharest.

"She really proved herself, and she really took losing you hard," Steve murmured, looking up at Bucky through his blonde hair as it draped across his forehead. Bucky felt his heart leap at Steve's words. "She would never admit it, but I saw it, heck, everyone that knew both of you saw it."

Bucky stared at Steve for a moment, not sure if he was understanding what his best friend was saying. He knew how he felt about his neighbor, but he never imagined she might even feel remotely the same way. Then again, maybe she didn't. Maybe she only thought of him as a friend, even losing a friend could hit her hard.

He was about to respond to Steve and ask more questions, when there was a crash from her room.

"Shit," both Steve and Bucky murmured, before racing to her room.

* * *

Lex walked quietly towards the edge of the lake, watching as the water barely moved in the calm of the day.

It had been a week since the final fight with Thanos, a majority of her injuries had healed, with only a few bones still mending in her ribs. She was lucky to have been allowed to leave, with both Bucky and Steve wrestling her during initial admission and calling in Wanda to stop her from running. Talk about being ganged up on.

She watched a bird fly overhead, landing in a tree and calling out as it looked down at her. They were at the Stark residence, getting ready for a memorial service in his honour.

She didn't really feel comfortable being there, after everything that had happened between them that caused their first meeting, it just didn't feel right to her. She wasn't even sure if the guy liked her, even during their days preparing to take on Thanos again, it seemed like their only interaction was through sarcasm or offhand jokes.

She sighed as she stood watching a bird skim across the surface of the lake, before landing, causing ripples to form on the water, spreading closer and closer to the bank she was standing on.

There was a sniffle off to her right and she jumped, on the alert and poised to strike as she turned to see who was there. She raised her eyebrows as she looked down to see big, familiar, brown eyes staring up at her in wonder. They were the same brown eyes that had told her Tony's final plan to stop Thanos, the same brown eyes who she let sacrifice himself for them. She felt a lump form in her throat as she straightened slightly.

The little girl continued to look at her, her eyes were a little red and puffy, which would explain the sniffle Lex had heard. Little Morgan Stark had been crying, and understandably so, her world had been changed forever.

"Hello." The little girl didn't take her eyes off Lex as she greeted her, and Lex found it unnerving.

"Uh…hi," she replied, stuffing her hands into the pockets of the black coat she was wearing. "Are…you okay?" Lex continued, completely unsure of what she was supposed to say to the five year old.

Morgan pressed her lips together slightly, sniffling again. "Not really." Lex pursed her lips, mentally scolding herself as she looked back to the water, feeling very uncomfortable to be in the presence of the child. "Are you friends with my dad?"

Stabbed to the heart. That's what that question felt like to Lex. She didn't know how to answer the child. Was she? Wasn't she? She had run a mission with him in their effort to reverse the effects of the snap, but was that enough to classify herself as one of his friends?

"Um, I was a colleague of your father. I didn't really know him for too long," she answered slowly, trying to think of the most diplomatic answer she could.

"Colleague?" the little girl repeated slowly, a slightly confused look on her face.

Lex bit her lip. Of course, a child wouldn't understand such big words. "Uh, I worked with him, once or twice."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" There was silence between them for a moment, and Lex considered heading back to the cabin, but then reconsidered it as she wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave the little girl alone.

"I miss my daddy."

The lump formed in Lex's throat again as she could hear the strain in the child's voice. She was quick to take a deep breath before looking at little Morgan Stark again, working hard to keep her expressions somewhat neutral as she addressed the child, kneeling down so she was at eye level with the girl. "And that's okay, because you love your daddy, right?"

"Why did he have to leave?"

Lex closed her eyes, trying to control her own emotions as her own thoughts of her mother sprang to mind. All these thoughts that Morgan was having, she had experienced them as a child too, when she lost her mother.

"Your daddy wanted to make sure that you, and everyone else could live happily and safely, but to do that, he needed to give everything he had," Lex replied as Morgan moved closer to her.

"But who is going to take care of me now?" she began to wail, causing Lex to wince slightly, but she was unprepared for what happened next. Morgan threw herself at Lex, wrapping her little arms around Lex's neck and beginning to sob into Lex's shoulder, causing the former Black Widow to freeze where she was. "Who is going to take care of me now that daddy is gone?"

"Well, there's Pep- your mummy, and there's your daddy's friend, what's his name? Happy?" Lex began trying to placate the child, using her hands to stop herself from falling as the child's weight pushed against her. She was starting to panic slightly. The Red Room hadn't prepared her for anything like this.

And then a thought occurred to her, as she remembered what Steve had said at Nat's memorial when Tony queried him about her family. "And then there's everyone else in your daddy's family."

Morgan pulled herself away from Lex's face, looking at her in confusion with tears still streaming down her face. "Daddy's family?" Lex could understand her confusion. She knew very well that Tony's mother and father had been killed, and he had no other living relatives, so the child had never met any 'family' of her father's.

"Yeah, you know, daddy's family? Uh…Uncle Steve, Uncle Bruce, Peter, everyone that's here today? That's all your daddy's family, you know?" she answered, moving her hands up to tidy up the little girl's hair and wipe away the tears that dripped down her face. She wondered if her own coat was currently covered in the little girl's snot at the shoulder where she had been crying but made a conscientious effort not to look.

"So, you're my daddy's family too?" Lex stared at the child for a moment, her eyes wide, moving her mouth as she tried to formulate an answer. "Are you?"

"Umm…" Lex stared at the little girl, trying to think of a nice way to let the little girl down. "I mean…"

"You said everyone that is here today is my daddy's family and will help take care of me. You're here."

Lex cringed slightly, before sighing and bowing her head in resignation. She was definitely her Tony Stark's daughter. "Uh… sure, I'm your daddy's family too."

The little girl jumped into her arms, clinging to Lex as she cried again, making Lex clench her jaw as she endured the uncomfortable position she found herself in. She sighed, before carefully putting her arm around the child and gently patting her back, vaguely remembering her own mother doing that to her on occasion when she was upset.

"Morgan!" came Pepper's voice, causing them both to look back towards the house. Lex immediately tensed, concerned the widower would be angry, or worse, fearful, to see her daughter in the arms of someone who was once her loved one's enemy. Instead, when she looked at Pepper, she saw the woman had a warm smile on her face, motioning to her daughter to come to her. "Come on, it's time."

Morgan released Lex, turning and running past her mother towards Happy, who waited behind Pepper, looking more concerned than Pepper did. Lex stayed crouching on the ground, feeling guilty as she watched Morgan run away, before glancing at Pepper, expecting her to say something.

Pepper smiled at her again, striding towards her with all the confidence that Lex currently did not feel. "Thank you."

Lex stood up slowly, frowning at Pepper as she straightened. "Uh… for what?"

"For helping Morgan, and for helping me when I needed it out there too," she answered simply.

Lex considered her for a moment. "No problem, uh, sorry, if I overstepped with your daughter. She kind of caught me off guard."

"It's fine, I think you put that perfectly," Pepper replied, waving her hand as if to wave away Lex's concerns.

Pepper smiled one more time before she turned and walked back towards the house, where Happy and Morgan were waiting at the bottom of the steps. Lex was quiet as she continued watching as Pepper held her hand out to Morgan, who took it and let her mother lead her inside.

Movement on the balcony caught her attention, as her gaze was drawn to Bucky and Steve, both leaning against the railing with knowing smiles on their faces. Lex bowed her head down and sighed, she knew she was going to get a goading from both boys now.

* * *

They stood watching on as Pepper carried a wreath out of the house, walking down the stairs while meeting everyone's gaze as she made her way down the path to the water. They had all been waiting patiently for the beginning of the intimate funeral, while Pepper and those closest to Tony had watched a recording Tony had made before they had made their trip back in time, including Steve and Thor.

Bucky stood with Lex on his right, and Sam on his left. Everyone was dressed in black, Sam wore a suit, his hands in his pockets as he watched on sadly, while Lex wore a black pant suit, with a black coat over the top. He noticed Lex's eyes followed the little girl who walked beside her mother, holding tightly to Pepper's spare hand. He watched as Lex seemed to swallow heavily, not taking her eyes off the child.

He had seen Lex's interaction with Tony's little girl before she had entered the house to watch Tony's recording with her mother, and he couldn't help but admire how she had reacted to the situation. Even Pepper had praise for her, and it warmed his heart when he had seen her wrap her arm around the little girl.

Once they reached the water's edge, Pepper lay the wreath on the lake. On top of the wreath was Tony's first personal arc reactor, which Pepper had framed with the words "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" back in 2008 when he had first become Iron Man.

They all watched on silently as the wreath floated away, taken away by the slow current of the lake. Morgan sniffled again, leaning into her mother, who also quietly sobbed as they watched on.

Bucky saw Lex clench and loosen her jaw repeatedly, and noted the hand closest to him clenched too as she swallowed again and it appeared that her eyes were beginning to gain a watery sheen to them. He slowly removed his hand from his jacket pocket, reaching across and taking her fist in his.

He felt her stiffen at first, her eyes widening ever so slightly, but then she opened her hand, accepting his into hers. He ran his thumb along her knuckles as they continued to watch the wreath float away.

* * *

After the memorial service, they all gathered around the grounds of the house, discussing their plans, or catching up with those that had been missing for the last five years.

Steve stood on the balcony, looking over the gathered mourners. Many of these people, he had come to know in the last eleven years since he had been pulled from the ice, one he had known before he went under.

He looked to Bucky, who was standing to one side, talking to Sam and Carol. No doubt Sam and Carol were discussing growing up in the 90s, while Bucky was simply appreciating the chance to hear about it.

"You always stand on a balcony looking over people as if they're all your children and you're an old grandpa?" an all too familiar voice asked from further along the balcony. Steve sighed, before looking to see Lex smiling wryly at him as she walked towards him, her heels clicking against the timber deck.

"Why not? I'm old enough?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly at him. "Hey, I wasn't looking at you."

She laughed, leaning against the railing with her back to everyone. "So, what now?" He looked questioningly back at her. "Well, what happens now?"

"We return the stones," Bruce answered, walking towards the steps of the house. Steve looked to Bruce, nodding slowly. "We have to drop them back exactly where we found them or we ruin those timelines and who knows what happens."

"Can you fix the Quantum portal?" Steve asked, recalling that the remnants of the portal were't salvageable after Thanos attacked the Avengers compound.

"No, I can make a new one, though. I know what I'm doing this time, thanks to Tony." They were quiet for a moment.

"Perhaps make it smaller this time," Lex offered, folding her arms as she looked over her shoulder at Bruce.

"There's nothing wrong with it being on the bigger side," Thor retorted, looking somewhat annoyed at Lex. She winked at him, and Steve noticed a pink tinge cross his cheeks.

"We can help," Nebula offered, with Rocket standing beside her, nodding.

"Yeah, somebody needs to make sure you don't mess this up," Rocket agreed.

"Wait, do I get a say in this?" Peter Quill, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy demanded, looking at his two crew members.

"So, who is taking them?" Sam asked, looking between Bruce and Steve. They were quiet for a moment as everyone looked around at each other.

"I will," Steve answered. Lex raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Bucky expectantly. "Alone. I'll be fine," he added, looking straight at Bucky, wanting him to know he didn't want anyone coming with him. Bucky nodded slowly, a look of understanding shared between the two old friends.

* * *

Bucky and Steve sat side by side on a park bench in Brooklyn. They had decided to take a trip back to their hometown. Lex and Sam had also joined them, and were currently off getting them all something for lunch.

They both watched as children ran past them, completely oblivious to the fact that Captain America was sitting right there, watching as they laughed and played.

"It's nice to be back," Steve murmured as they watched a father walk by holding his son's hand.

"Yeah, it is," Bucky replied, smiling as he enjoyed the feeling of being able to be in public without worrying, for the moment. He was well aware, that with the return of everyone, it also meant the return of HYDRA too, but as Lex had pointed out, it was going to take a while for the organization to regroup and come after them again.

He looked to his best friend, noting that although he appeared happy in the moment, there was definitely something on his mind. "You good?"

His friend looked back at Bucky, raising his eyebrows expectantly as if to feign innocence, but Bucky looked at him pointedly. Even after being brainwashed and locked in a freezer most of his life, he still knew when Steve wasn't being honest.

Steve sighed, before leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees and holding his hands together. "I've been thinking, maybe this is a chance for me to try and get some of that ... life … Tony was telling me to get."

Bucky was quiet for a moment, considering Steve's words, before his eyes went wide. He thought to argue, they were finally at peace with the world. They finally had a chance to be together again, the two best friends from Brooklyn, without fear of continually looking over their shoulder all the time for the next threat. At least for a while anyway.

And then Bucky thought about Lex, and what he had with her. While he hadn't acted upon his feelings yet, the fact was, that he had her there. Who did Steve have? He knew who Steve wanted, he remembered the looks the pair had shared, even if those memories were few and far between.

But she wasn't here. She was no longer in this time.

Bucky smiled sympathetically at Steve, nodding slowly. "I get it."

He looked past Steve, seeing Lex and Sam waiting to cross at a set of lights, their arms laden with bags of food, while she laughed at something he said. Bucky got to see that smile face to face.

Steve wanted to experience that too.

A thought occurred to Bucky as he watched the pair waiting and chatting animatedly. "What about Captain America?"

Steve raised his eyebrows, before furrowing them. "Don't suppose you're looking for a job?"

Bucky scoffed, laughing and sitting back. "No way, I've got way too much baggage for that job." He nodded his head towards the pair who were across the road. Steve turned to look, seeing the pair just as the light changed for them and they began walking again.

Steve looked back to Bucky with a thoughtful look on his face. "You think?"

Bucky nodded. "He fits the bill, he's always fought for America and the good," Bucky replied. He thought about his own history, what he had done and what had happened to him in the last few years. "I may have started out on the right side, and even if it was out of my control, I still ended up on the wrong side. I have to live with that. There are still people out there that see my face and probably shake with fear at the thought of me. That's not who Captain America should be." He grinned then and leaned closer to his friend, who also leaned in with a curious look on his face. "And personally, you wouldn't catch me dead in tights."

Steve groaned, whacking Bucky's arm with the back of his hand, making Bucky laugh loudly.

* * *

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


	40. WE'

**Okay, this one might be the last chapter for a while for this particular fic.**

 **If you get bored, there are a couple of my other fics you can read that are Marvel based. I'm particularly enjoying writing Silent Heart atm.**

 **Thanks for following/favouriting this adventure Twilightobsessers, , DianaJo, evemarie07, and ashleyag**

 **And thanks for the reviews xRaspberryx, AliceCullen3 and Janeth16**

 **Enjoy**

 **xo**

* * *

 **Chapter 40**

 **'WE'**

Bucky and Lex stood looking up at the new Quantum Tunnel platform that Bruce had put together in the space of a week, while Steve was getting briefed by Bruce, Sam listening in with avid interest.

"Remember... You have to return the stones to the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities." Bruce shut the briefcase containing the six infinity stones, handing it over to Steve.

Steve smiled at Bruce, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Bruce. Clip all the branches."

Bruce looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, before looking back to the control panel as he touched a few buttons. "You know, I tried." Steve looked back at him questioningly. "When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back." Bruce looked back at Steve, a sad expression on his face. "I miss them, man."

Steve offered him a sympathetic look. "Me, too." He patted Bruce's shoulder before turning and walking back towards the Quantum Platform, Sam walking beside him.

Sam looked at Steve pointedly, smiling hopefully. "You know, if you want, I can come with you."

Steve smiled at the younger man. Sam had been a good friend to Steve since they'd met in 2014, but knowing what he was about to do, he knew that taking Sam with him wasn't going to work. He had better plans for Sam. "You're a good man, Sam. This one's on me, though." Sam looked mildly disappointed as Steve stepped in front of Lex.

"I'm not gonna say good-bye, you're coming back," Lex said with a matter of fact expression on her face. Looking at the female super soldier, she was ever the image of toughness, dressed in ripped jeans, a white shirt under a green leather jacket and black boots, with her blonde hair tied up into a messy bun on top of her head. Except he knew better now. He had seen what the former Black Widow could do, and he knew how she really felt. Steve could only smile at her. "Besides, I'm not a hugger or anything, and you know that."

He glanced at Bucky, who offered a smile and the slightest of nods. He looked back at Lex.

"Yeah you are, come here," he said, quickly grabbing her. He wrapped his spare arm around her shoulders, forcing her to move towards him.

"Aww, come on…" she argued, but even Steve could tell it was half-hearted. "Boy germs."

He laughed, patting her on the back, before stepping back. "Try and keep the crazy in check, yeah?"

She shrugged, screwing up her face slightly. "Eh."

He shook his head, before stepping towards Bucky as Lex gave a wave of her hand and walked over to Sam.

The pair looked at each other knowingly. Steve offered him a warm smile. "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

Bucky scoffed quietly. "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Steve smiled at him again, thankful that he had managed to get his friend back for good. Steve reached out, and the two hugged, patting each other on the back.

"Gonna miss you, Buddy," Bucky murmured, obviously trying to make sure the other three didn't hear him.

"It's gonna be okay, Buck." He let Bucky go, turning and looking at the platform before glancing towards Sam and Lex, a mile forming on his face as he saw Lex looking back at Bucky. "You're not going to be on your own anymore."

Bucky followed his gaze, stuffing his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Steve glanced at Bucky in the corner of his, seeing the smile on his face, knowing that his friend was going to be just fine.

* * *

Bucky watched as Steve walked towards the Quantum portal, as Lex and Sam moved to stand next to him, Lex shooting a suspicious look in Bucky's direction before glancing up at the super soldier. Steve activated the Quantum suit, by tapping the glove on his left hand, the suit appearing over his Captain America uniform.

"How long is this gonna take?" Sam asked, sounding nervous.

"For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds," Bruce replied, looking up from the control panel.

Steve bent over and picked up Mjolnir, who he was also going to be returning to Asgard. As he straightened, his Quantum helmet formed over his head and he looked back down to Bucky, as they shared one last knowing look.

"Ready, Cap? Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?" Bruce asked, confirming one last time.

"You bet."

Bruce tapped away the control panel. "Going quantum. Three, two, one..." Steve disappeared without a trace and Bucky felt like his breath was stolen from him as he stared at the spot where Steve had been standing. He lowered his head slightly, looking away from the platform. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Lex turn her head and look at him, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"And returning in, five, four, three, two, one..."

He looked back to the platform, as the machine made a strange sound, but nothing appeared. There was an awkward silence, before Bruce hastily started checking his equipment.

"Where is he?" Sam asked, concern evident in his voice as he looked over to Bruce fiddling with his controls.

"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here."

Bucky smirked sadly, before turning away from the platform and walking towards the lake, wanting to take a moment by himself as Lex and Sam both waited for Bruce to figure out what had happened. Bucky knew he never would. He stopped walking, bowing his head while thinking about his time with Steve for a moment.

"Well, get him back," Sam demanded.

"I'm trying," Bruce replied, moving around his control panel.

Lex moved to stand next to Bucky, looking sideways at him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she peered at his face. _"What aren't you telling us?"_ Lex asked in Russian, obviously not wanting Sam and Bruce to hear her. He looked at her, offering a small smile but saying nothing as he looked back towards the lake. He wasn't surprised that she knew something was up, she was trained to be perceptive, just like he was.

His smile faded, changing into mild surprise as he spotted a figure sitting on a bench by the lake. The figure had grey hair, a hunched back and appeared frail.

"Get him the hell back," Sam demanded with a lot more urgency, starting to sound panicked.

"Hey, I said, I'm trying!" Bruce retorted in frustration.

Lex's eyes followed Bucky's gaze, her brow furrowing as she also saw the man. "Who…wait…" Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open ever so slightly.

Bucky smiled again. "Sam," he called, not looking back to the others, continuing to watch the old man.

Sam moved towards Bucky, stopping beside him and looking towards the figure sitting on the bench. They all glanced at each other, before walking closer to the water's edge. They stopped a couple of metres away, just watching the man.

Bucky noticed a large brown bag resting on the ground beside the old man and he smirked, remembering the conversation the friends had while waiting for Sam and Lex in the park.

"Go ahead," he said, not looking away from the man at first, but when Sam didn't move, he glanced sideways. Sam looked slightly bewildered back at Bucky, also glancing past him at Lex.

"Go on, we haven't got all century," Lex urged quietly, shifting closer to Bucky as she looked back towards the man. "And neither does he, by the looks of it."

Sam frowned at Lex, before looking back to the man and beginning to walk towards him.

"Cap?"

The old man looked towards Sam, his face very clearly aged, but the smile was all Steve. "Hi, Sam."

Bucky smiled again when Sam looked back towards him with a look of disbelief. Beside him, Lex sighed, watching the exchange and standing very close to him.

"You knew," she murmured, leaning towards him, her shoulder brushing against his. He glanced sideways at her, smiling but not saying anything. "You knew he wasn't coming back, that's why you two got all soppy."

He chuckled quietly, looking at her fully then. "Maybe. And maybe, you shouldn't have been eavesdropping."

"Not my fault you two talk loudly," she retorted, although a smirk was still evident on her face. She rolled her eyes, looking skywards and shaking her head, before looking back to the pair. "I guess he caught up with that lady then, Margaret."

"Peggy, Peggy Carter."

Lex raised her eyebrows slightly, acknowledging the name as she continued to watch.

Steve reached for the bag beside him, carefully lifting it up and putting it between he and Sam, opening the bag and looking to Sam. "Try it on."

Sam's eyes went wide, a stunned expression on his face and he looked back to Bucky. That surprised Bucky, it seemed like he was asking for Bucky's permission. He certainly didn't think he needed it, Sam deserved that shield more than anyone else. He nodded encouragingly.

Sam reached down, picking up the shield, placing his arm through the straps and admiring it.

"You're okay with that?" Lex asked quietly, a strange tone to her voice that he'd not heard from her before.

"It was my idea." Lex was quiet, as they continued to watch the pair.

Then, Bucky heard Lex move beside him, as she turned and began to walk away. He looked back at her in surprise, noting that her shoulders appeared slumped as she walked away. He looked back one more time at Steve and Sam before quickly following behind her.

He caught up to her quickly. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, keeping pace with her.

"Yeah," she replied, but didn't look at him, continuing past Bruce and towards the compound where workers were trying to clear the mess that was the Avengers building.

He could tell something was wrong, and quickly reached out with his real hand, grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop. "What's wrong?"

She stopped, looking at his hand in hers, her brow furrowing slightly and her eye twitching. "I wouldn't say anything is wrong, exactly," she replied slowly. She wouldn't look at his face, her eyes fixed on their hands together.

"You'll have to elaborate, reading people has never been a strength of mine, beating people was more up my alley," he said, offering her a smile even though she wouldn't look at him.

He could tell she was trying not to laugh as she pressed her lips together. She was quiet for a moment longer before she sighed. "I just don't know what to do now."

He frowned, staring at her. "What do you mean?"

She breathed through her nose, as if she was getting frustrated. "Tony is gone, Nat is gone, Steve is go- well…not going anywhere fast, the Guardians have left, the Wakandans have left, Clint's gone back to his family, Scott is with his family. The Avengers, or whatever this whole thing that we had, is done. For the last five years, this is all I've known, but it's done."

He stared at her for a moment, realizing what she was struggling with. For years, she was on her own, hiding and moving from city to city. Coming into 'their' world had been completely different from what she had been used to. She went from obscurity to being thrust into a world that always seemed to be on the go. Now, they were lapsing into an unknown, and she was feeling insecure.

This wasn't something he was used to seeing in Lex. And while it was strange to see it, he knew what he had to do.

She moved to pull her hand away from his, but he refused to release it, instead pulling her forwards and wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey," she exclaimed, surprised by the movement and trying to slip free. She looked up at his eyes finally, and she stopped struggling as he peered down at her, offering her a smile.

"Don't worry, WE are going to be fine," he murmured, not letting her go.

She blinked, obviously registering the emphasis he placed on the word 'WE'. "Really?"

He smiled again, as he noticed a pink tinge was starting to spread across her cheeks.

"Definitely." They continued to stare at each other, their faces drifting closer as everything around them seemed to stop. He licked his bottom lip anxiously, spurring his courage on.

"Just kiss her already!"

The pair jumped slightly, looking around and seeing Steve being guided by Sam across the uneven ground towards them. Steve was grinning from ear to ear, Sam not much better.

"Ugh, Steve, your timing is still as bad as ever," Bucky groaned, tipping his head forward as Lex laughed nervously. Bucky didn't let her go, and she didn't move to try and slip out of his grasp again.

"My timing? You're both already a hundred years old, you were going to take a hundred years just to get there," Steve mocked as he and Sam drew level with them.

"You get your woman and suddenly you're a cocky son a bitch. You realise I could actually snap you in half now, if I really wanted to?" Lex threatened Steve as she turned to look at him with a pointed expression on her face.

"And there's the Lex we know and love," Steve replied, winking at her. She blushed again, before rolling her eyes.

Bucky grinned, finally releasing her from his arms and walking towards Steve. He grinned back up at his old friend, who was now a good foot taller than him, before Bucky stooped down low to offer him a careful hug. "It's good to see you, pal."

Steve smiled up at Bucky, the smile pronouncing the wrinkles around his eyes. "It's good to see you too." He looked around the group. "Its good to see all of you."

* * *

Lex looked around the room, feeling slightly out of place. They had been put up in Stark tower, at Pepper's request, since none of them really had a home to return to. It was pretty lavish, even more lavish than living in the Wakanda Design Group accommodation suites, which she had thought was extremely comfortable. Here, she had a whole floor of the tower to herself, as did the others that had been offered rooms there. Sam, Bucky, Wanda, they were all living in the tower.

Looking around, Lex couldn't help but think that she had nothing here to make this feel like a home for her. Lex still had the little hut she had established in Wakanda, but being honest, there wasn't much there. She had only ever kept the bare essentials, not wanting to have too many material possessions after the snap. It meant less to lose.

Technically, she probably also had the apartment in Bucharest, as she had discussed with Bucky mid-fight, the landlord had been snapped. How much of her stuff she had left, she could only imagine, no doubt the victim of looters.

She had fond memories of Bucharest now, but there was one problem.

All her friends were here now.

The last five years had changed her perspective on the world. Before that fateful day in the apartment block when Bucky moved in across the hall, she had always considered the world a dark and lonely place for her. It was a place where if people ever found out who she was, she would be hunted down or spurned.

She thought she was alone, and that she had no one to help her, or maybe it was that she thought she didn't need it.

Now though, she knew that not only was she capable of making friends, but she was capable of so much more. She had helped save lives, not just taking them out of spite or vengeance. She had done something good, rather than just hiding from those who sought to use her.

As she looked back out of the window, taking in the evening sky over New York, she felt content, albeit slightly anxious. Maria Hill had been the one to settle them into their rooms and had mentioned Nick Fury would be visiting them in the near future. Sam had pointed him out to them at the memorial service for Tony Stark, Lex keeping it to herself that she already knew the man, recalling their meeting in the archive room at the SHIELD headquarters.

"Ms Nikulkin?" came the voice of the AI, named Friday, who controlled the tower and all its functions, making Lex jump in surprise. That was definitely something that was going to take some getting used to, along with its incessant use of her last name. A name she had long forgotten about.

"Yes, Friday?" Lex asked, looking back into the room from the window, not sure where she should look, and feeling uncomfortable at talking to…well…nothing.

"Sergeant Barnes would like to visit," Friday replied. Lex raised her eyebrows in surprise, for two reasons. The first being that Bucky was entered into Friday's systems as 'Sergeant Barnes'. The second being that Bucky was wanting to visit her already.

After their interrupted interaction at the former Avengers compound, she had felt awkward around Bucky, unable to look at him or even walk close to him. As soon as she could, she had looked for an excuse to get away from the group, even helping Bruce pack down his Quantum portal.

Just thinking of the close interaction had her cheeks heating up.

"Ms Nikulkin?"

"For god's sake, Friday, just call me Lex, please!" she exclaimed in exasperation, quickly feeling guilty for raising her voice. Then she felt silly for feeling guilty about yelling at a robot. "Let him up," she added, beginning to feel anxious again.

Bucky had been placed on the floor below hers, with Sam below him and Wanda above her. Lex couldn't help but wonder if the thought process behind their placement was strategic, allowing Wanda and Sam to keep an eye on them.

Lex turned back to look out the windows as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a brilliant colour scheme of orange, red and purple across the sky. She didn't see it though, her brain continued to play over the events of earlier that day.

She was so preoccupied, she didn't even hear the elevator doors slide open, nor the footsteps walking towards her. It wasn't until she felt a warm hand on her arm that she turned around in surprise.

Bucky peered back at her with concern etched on his features as he looked at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked apologetically at him, plastering a smile onto her face before shaking her head slightly. "Sorry, I didn't hear you, was just thinking about…literally…everything that's happened."

He offered her an understanding smile, not removing his hand from her arm. "I get it, a lot has happened," he said, not taking his eyes off hers. "Don't worry, we'll get through it."

She raised a single eyebrow, cocking her head to one side, noting the use of the plural. It was the second time today he had done that. His smiled changed, more warmth and something else channeling into it. It made her feel anxious again and she looked down, breaking eye contact with him.

She noticed a couple of bags in his Vibranium hand. "What's this?" she asked, looking inquisitively at the bags, before she noticed the smell.

"Oh, I thought perhaps you were hungry, so I brought us some dinner," he said, finally removing his hand from her arm and lifting the bags up for her to see. "I hope you like burgers."

* * *

Bucky sat next to Lex at the breakfast bar of her kitchen bench. He would have been lying if he said he hadn't felt the awkward energy in the room when she had realized he was there. The fact that she hadn't realized he was there was testament enough to how distracted she was by her own thoughts.

And he could totally understand why. The whole four or five hours after their interaction in the field by the remnants of the Avengers compound had been weighing heavy on his mind too. He mentally scolded himself for taking too long to take action, but at the time he had wanted to make sure she really did feel the same way he did about her. He also loathed Steve and Sam for interrupting them.

She was a hard person to read before he had disappeared, but now, she was different. She showed a much more varied range of emotions, and the fact that she had been insecure about her role in the world now, gave him more proof that she was changing. And he knew that meant that she needed him now more than ever.

Steve had told him about how she reacted to his disappearance, how she had locked herself away from everyone. In a way, he hoped that it was a reaction specific to losing him, but he occasionally wondered if it was more about the fact that many were lost that day. Steve seemed adamant that it was his loss that hit her the hardest.

While they ate dinner, it was almost like they were back in Bucharest, except now they spoke freely about their past. Sometimes the conversations were dark, taking them back to bad places, other times the conversation was light as they recalled some moments shared together.

They laughed together, recalling their first meeting on the stairs of the apartment block, when she had run straight into him.

"You know, I was terrified that I had broken your wrist when I grabbed you," he said, as he began cleaning up after his meal.

She raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"I grabbed you with this hand," he answered, raising his Vibranium arm. "A normal woman probably would have broken."

"Gees, girls aren't that fragile, Bucky," Lex replied, rolling her eyes. She smirked. "Just because the girls of your time in Brooklyn were gentile waifs of creatures, doesn't mean we all are."

He smiled at her, leaning a little closer to her. "I know that now."

Her smirk faltered, and her eyes darted away, before she was quick to her feet, beginning to pick up their rubbish and dishes. "Should probably clean this up."

He watched her for a moment, noticing the pink tinge across her cheeks. He smiled again, getting up and helping her clean up. It didn't take them long to finish, and he watched as she walked over to look out the windows again. He moved over to join her, also looking out over the city of New York.

Stark Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the city, so it towered over everything. The lights of the city peppered the view and he was grateful to be able to see them again, through his own eyes, at his own will.

"I never thought, in a million years, that I would ever get to experience a life like this," Lex said quietly. Bucky looked at her in surprise. Her arms were crossed, the lights of the city shining the slightest of glows on her face, so he could see the thoughtful expression on her face. She was wearing a pair of light colour, ripped jeans and a white shirt that draped off one of her shoulders, exposing the tanned skin and her elegant, long neck. It was a thing of beauty to see, as she appeared content for the moment, just staring out over the city. "I thought my life was destined to be alone, forever dodging HYDRA in the darkest of places around the world. I never thought I would be here, in Stark Tower, after fighting beside the Avengers to save the world, and being able to spend it with people I can call friends."

His heart plummeted and he bowed his head in an effort to stop her from seeing his face. She had said friends, he had misconstrued the situation and her feelings. He looked back over the city, careful to make sure the disappoint didn't show on his face. "And we will all be here for you. Always."

She was quiet for a moment, staring out the window, before dropping her eyes to look at her arms that crossed her chest. "When I was at the Red Room, I was taught all about how to deal with men. How to talk to them, how to seduce them, how to 'handle' them…" she said quietly. He frowned slightly, staring at her as she recounted her training. She lifted her face, turning her face so her eyes met his, and it was then that he saw an emotion there he hadn't seen before. "So, how come I don't know how to deal with you?"

He stared at her for a moment, taking in what she was asking, before quickly reaching up to her face with his right hand and drawing her lips to his. He pressed his lips to hers, feeling the warmth of her lips against his sending tingles all throughout his body.

He felt one of her hands move to his chest, and he pulled back, worried that he had overstepped the line. "I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, moving to step away from her, but she grabbed his shirt roughly, her brow furrowed.

"Why?" she demanded, before pulling him back towards her and crushing her lips to his again. He closed his eyes, as she dropped her hand from his shirt, both her hands slowly moving to cling to his waist, as he began to react to her kissing him, pushing back against her with a longing he hadn't felt in a long time.

He moved his tongue along her bottom lip, wishing for permission to taste her fully, and she soon granted it, parting her lips and allowing him access. He delved deeper, pulling her body closer to his and wrapping his arms around her, his left hand resting on her hip, while his right began to explore her curves.

Her hands dipped lower down his waist, slipping under his shirt and her fingers grazing along his skin, setting his body ablaze. He pushed her back, turning them slightly so her back was now against the windows, his mouth drifting down from her lips to trace kisses down her jawline, to her neck. He heard her gasp, her fingers clinging to his back as he did so, encouraging him to continue.

His right hand drifted under her shirt, feeling the heat of her skin as he pressed himself against her more fully, feeling the strength of her body as she leant into him and continued to run her fingers along the skin of his abdomen when she wasn't clinging to him as he sent thrills through her body every time he moved his lips to a different position on her neck, or her shoulder.

Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed, and both stopped, looking around in alarm.

"What was that?" Lex demanded as Bucky stepped away from her, looking around with great concern, trying to discern if there was an intrusion in the tower.

"My apologies, Ms Nikulkin, I thought some mood lighting might have been appropriate," Friday replied.

Bucky and Lex looked at each incredulously, before both burst out laughing.

* * *

 **I'm gonna be completely honest... I love teasing the hell out of you guys when I write... ahahahahaha**

 **xo**

 **Krayzee**


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